Chapter 5: End

Just as the princess was coming around, Death grasped the physician by the arm and dragged him to a cavern. The physician was filled with dread as he was pulled deeper into the darkness. He tried to resist but Death's grip was like iron.

When they reached the cavern, the physician saw thousands of candles, each burned down to different lengths. Death explained that the length of each candle shows how much longer a person has to live.

Death walked the physician to his candle, and it was very short, suggesting that the physician did not have much longer to live. The physician was filled with despair and begged Death to light him a new candle, so that he may live a happy life as king and husband to the beautiful princess.

But Death was unyielding. "For another candle to be lit, one has to go out." The physician walked towards the candle of his child and tries to move it to his own, but Death stops him "You once looked for the most righteous one to be the godfather of your child, but at the Bed of Death you betrayed that and instead grasped for the life of another."

The physician was filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair. He knew that he had made a grave mistake and that there was no way to rectify it. He begged Death to take his own candle instead, but Death was unmoved.

Just as Death was about to light the new candle, he lifted his scythe and the boy's candle went out. As soon as the candle was extinguished, the physician fell dead to the ground.

As the physician lay dying, he heard Death's whisper echo in his ear, "You know there was

a story of a man who searched for a suitable godfather for his newborn child. The man had twelve children, and he worked hard every day to feed them all. But when his thirteenth and last child was born, he knew that he needed to find someone special to be the godfather.

He set out into a dark moist forest, searching for the perfect godfather. He met God, who asked to be the godfather, promising the child health and happiness. But the man, knowing that God judges over humanity, declined. He also met the Devil, who offered the child gold and the world's joys, but the man knew that the Devil deceives mankind, and declined.

But as he was walking down the highway, he met Death. The man thought that Death takes away the rich and the poor, without discrimination, so he asked Death to be the godfather. And Death accepted."

"And now that story ends, as of all things will eventually end."

"Now sleep, my unwise apprentice."

The physician's last thoughts were of regret and sorrow for his actions. He knew that he had chosen his own desires over the life of his own child and that he would never be able to make amends for it. His soul was claimed by Death and he was doomed to wander the cavern of candles for eternity, a reminder to others of the dangers of betrayal and greed.