[ WP ] A man sails to the ends of the Earth and finds a talking wall . The wall calls himself the fourth wall , and is breaking .

DeRilio and Calabus stood on the prow and observed the wall from up close. 
 
 `` India, do you suppose?'' said DeRilio. 
 
 Calabus shrugged. `` They are said to have strange, exotic customs. Perhaps... perhaps they have constructed a single stone wall that rises to the heavens and spreads beyond sight in either direction. Perhaps...'' 
 
 `` I...'' DeRilio scratched his chin. They had met the wall two days prior and followed it westward. `` It must *end* at some point?'' 
 
 `` No,'' said a voice that seemed to come from high and low and left and right all at once. `` Not necessarily.'' 
 
 `` Who's that?'' shouted DeRilio. Calabus looked back at what remained of the crew. They all shook their heads wearily. 
 
 Bits of rocks shook down from somewhere high up along the stone face of the wall. `` That was me. I am the Fourth Wall.'' 
 
 `` Ah,'' said DeRilio. `` So you're saying India has erected an enormous stone wall along all four borders? That's... well, that's a bit unneighborly, do n't you think?'' 
 
 `` We just wanted to do a bit of trading,'' said Calabus, unsure where to look when addressing the wall. `` I've heard good things about *curry*.'' 
 
 `` No,'' said the Fourth Wall. `` I'm just a wall. You've reached the end of the world. Poor bit of navigating, that.'' 
 
 Merellen, the navigator, slowly made his way below deck, his face as red as a salami. 
 
 `` Wait,'' said DeRilio. `` If you're the *fourth* wall, where are the other three?'' 
 
 `` It's a theater term,'' said the wall. `` I'm not sure it's really worth explaining.'' A bit more of the stone began to crumble and fall into the ocean on either side of the ship. `` Especially considering how little time you have left.'' 
 
 `` Come again?'' said DeRilio. 
 
 A fissure the size of a sea lion formed suddenly in the wall directly overhead. 
 
 `` You have n't much time left. These prompt responses are short by their nature and your particular author is supposed to be working right now, so I'm supposing he'll want to wrap it up soon.'' 
 
 `` *Author*?'' said DeRilio. 
 
 `` *Working*?'' said Calabus. 
 
 Just then a cannonball sized lump of stone fell off the wall and through the deck, in between where the captain and his first mate were standing. 
 
 `` You're in a very hastily written story,'' said the wall patiently. `` The entirety of your life is this single encounter, right here, below a talking wall. I mean, it's not much of a life, granted, but it's what you got.'' 
 
 `` I do n't believe that's true,'' said Calabus. `` You ca n't believe everything a wall tells you.'' Some of the crew nodded at this. 
 
 `` Well,'' said the wall. `` I suppose you do n't *have* to believe me. But do you remember any bit of your lives before we started this conversation?'' 
 
 `` Yes!'' said DeRilio. `` I remember asking if maybe we'd reached India.'' 
 
 Another Cadillac-sized hunk of stone fell through the center of the boat, which is a rather incongruent bit of description if you think about it, but what can you do? The ship began to list heavily to one side. 
 
 `` That's where the story *started*,'' said the wall. `` But what about *before* that?'' 
 
 DeRilio and Calabus stared at each other. 
 
 `` In a better story you'd both have nice backstories. Families, perhaps. Goals. Motivations. A generous bit of character development, perhaps. I mean, no offense, but as it stands right now you're more or less the same character with a different name.'' 
 
 `` But I'm the *captain*,'' said DeRilio rather meekly. `` Right?'' 
 
 `` This ca n't be right,'' said Calabus, or maybe DeRilio, who really cares at this point? `` I do n't want to die!'' 
 
 Water sloshed up and over the deck. 
 
 `` Oh, you wo n't *die*,'' said the wall. `` This writer does n't have much stomach for all those gory death scenes people like to go in for. You'll just sort of... stop.'' 
 
 `` Stop?'' said one of the two, mostly indistinguishable main characters. `` That does n't sound any better.'' 
 
 `` Well...'' 
 
 And then the entire wall fell over on top of the boat or something. I think my manager's coming...
