i bend down ; kiss her on her forehead above the ugly hole . the land of the dead was not always a place of eternal darkness , whisper said then , staring down at the fractured wood of the boat . she jumps , startled , not noticing me until now . what if im not any good ? there was nothing on this side that looked modern at all . most writers simply accepted this ability as part of what had made the lord ruler god . a birthday only recorded what life had been lived . 