The House at the End of the World

The sound the ocean makes as it cascades over the edge of the actual world into nothingness is impossible to fathom  --  simultaneously too loud because of the ocean's immeasurable volume and not loud enough, as there's nowhere for the water to land below. If you've been to the house at the end of the world, then you know what that sounds like. You also know that it's impossible to describe to another living soul with any accuracy.

The house at the end of the world is grey and weathered, standing precariously close to the edge of a tall, grey cliff that overlooks the ocean as it spills endlessly into the void. In the house's back yard stands a grey wooden swing and a grey stone wishing well that ran out of wish-granting juice some time ago, give or take a thousand years.

The sun doesn't shine at the edge of the world. Its light must make its way through a thick cover of constant storm clouds. This is the place where life ebbs away and transitions into something else. Bright sunlight has no purpose or point in such a place, and it would merely be wasted here.

However, a mighty wind blows constantly and fiercely. Over the centuries, it's caused both the house on the cliff and the leafless grey trees around it to lean at an unlikely angle. This causes the house to look as if it's concerned about toppling over the edge and is leaning backward to prevent such a tragedy from happening.

It rains often here, although it rains hardest when the rest of the world is in turmoil. The temperature also drops significantly, sometimes turning the rains into bitter, spiteful snow that scours the sides of the little grey house until they're smooth as glass.

Of course, the little grey house does not stand empty. Inside it, lives a little grey couple who've been here for as long as the world's been around. Overseeing the edge of the world and protecting it from discovery isn't an easy job or a terribly exciting one most of the time, but someone's got to do it. Ellen and Eli are a perfect fit. They shall be here until the day they have been waiting for ever since they were born - the world's very last day.

---

"It's a dark one today," said Ellen as she looked out the kitchen window, her grey eyes flashing with excitement and anticipation. "And I do believe it looks like rain."

"Oh, there will definitely be rain today," Eli agreed. "I can feel it in my bones, and you know my bones are never wrong about these things. Now sit down to breakfast, my dear. If today is the day, you'll need your strength."

Ellen nodded, reluctantly turned away from the window, and sat down at her place at the little grey kitchen table. In front of her was her favorite breakfast  -- lox, cucumber slices, a few slices of good soft cheese, and two pieces of buttered toast. In front of Eli was his  -- a bowl of warm oatmeal with butter, honey, and berries. They were old and set in their ways, but they also knew that any day could possibly be the day. Any breakfast that could possibly be their last should be their favorite, the couple reasoned.

A heart-stopping strong gust of wind shook the walls of the little grey house, rattling the glass in the window panes so hard, Ellen feared they might shatter. That had happened a couple of times in the past  --  the shattering, that is. Once on the day Nero let Rome burn to the ground and again when Adolf Hitler was born. There might have been a few other occasions, as well, but Ellen was getting on in years and couldn't remember things quite as well as she used to.

"I know how excited you get when the wind blows like this, dear, but I rather hope the windows don't shatter today," said Eli, a pained look in his ice-blue eyes. "This pain in my joints is much worse than usual, and I would rather not spend the afternoon making glass."

"Oh, it'll be good for you, Eli," said Ellen with a hiss. "Keeping busy and moving around always helps, and you know it. And wouldn't it be wonderful if… well, you know."

Ellen's grey eyes sparkled like polished steel as she imagined the possibilities, and a small, chilly smile flickered across her lips for a moment before disappearing again. Eli sighed and shook his head. He'd known his wife a long time  -- since she was a mere girl millennia ago  -- and she had never grown out of her penchant for flights of fancy. He supposed that if it hadn't happened by now, it never would.

A second gust of wind even stronger than the first caused the house to sway in a disorienting way. And then something entirely new happened . The ground beneath the house began to quake violently, rattling the windows and causing the couple's teeth to chatter in their aging skulls. The temperature in the room also dropped fifteen or twenty degrees in a matter of seconds. A frosty rime formed on the windows, creeping across the glass in graceful, feathery patterns, no two exactly alike.

Mere seconds before the ground stopped shaking and all was still again, the couple heard the faint sound of shattering glass somewhere toward the back of the house and then again in the living room. Eli sighed heavily as Ellen chuckled merrily.

"Oh, cheer up," she said. "I'll bake you a coconut cake and finish it with extra frosting. It'll be ready by the time you're finished replacing the window panes, and you can have a nice, thick slice. How would that be?"

"Sounds grand, my dear," replied Eli, his blue eyes filling with love and appreciation for his wife as he started to rise from the table. He did so love her coconut cakes  -- frosty white and very sweet with as much shredded coconut on top as could be.

"Well, there's no need to go running off right this split second," said Ellen warmly. "Finish your breakfast, love. It is your favorite, and you need to keep your strength up, you know."

Eli sat back down with a nod and tucked into his oatmeal. Ellen had topped it with extra honey today and the blackberries were extra sweet. Ellen tore a piece off of one of her toast slices and topped it with a bit of lox and cheese. Both gazed out the kitchen window at the skies outside.

There was no mistaking that rain was indeed on the way today and a lot of it. The storm clouds were black, inky, and swirling ominously. Way out in the distance, a pair of twisters had formed and were dancing back and forth across the surface of the agitated ocean. And then the rain began to fall, fat drops hitting the glass one after the other.

"I absolutely love how cold it is today," whispered Ellen happily. "It's like the kind of cold you must feel when you're dead. Delightful." She closed her eyes, genuinely relishing the chill in the air, and smiled that wistful smile Eli knew so well by now.

---

Later on, as Eli worked diligently on the replacement panes for the broken windows, Ellen worked in the little garden outback. She'd left the back door open so the winds could blow through the house, clearing the air and ensuring that the temperature would remain nice and low, just like she liked it. Every so often, a whiff of the coconut cake she'd left baking in the oven would fly past on an errant breeze.

Beside her was a basket she was steadily filling with root vegetables for a stew she'd make for dinner. Her gnarled hands deftly dug fat potatoes, woody parsnips, plump carrots, and sweet beets from the rich soils, piling them high in the basket. After adding a few sprigs from the rosemary bush that grew by the door, she thought she had just about enough to make a wonderful meal.

And just then, the skies grew especially dark --  darker than they'd ever been during the day -- and the rains began to fall harder. By then, the wind was blowing so forcefully that it was practically lifting Ellen off of her feet where she stood. A blinding bolt of lightning sliced the sky in half as a rumble of thunder left Ellen's ears ringing. And then, she heard it.

A long, low sound like a great horn being blown somewhere far away boomed over the waters, causing Ellen's very bones to shake. She didn't need to wonder or ponder what that meant. She already knew. It was the sound of the Great Horn that could only mean the inevitable was mere moments from happening.

She was just about to call to Eli where he was toiling away in his workshop when he appeared. He'd heard it, too, and also knew what Ellen knew  --  the time had finally come.

"I don't think you need to worry about those windows, love," Ellen said excitedly.

"Or the coconut cake, either, I suppose," said Eli, wrapping his arm lovingly around his wife's shoulders and kissing the top of her head. "Let's go out front and watch, shall we? We don't want to miss this."

Ellen giggled excitedly as she followed Eli around the side of the house before situating herself in her rocking chair, her shawl pulled tight around her as she rocked excitedly. Eli lit a pipe and sat rocking in his own chair beside her. As the two of them looked out over the waters, they saw the sky opening up. The first dead souls were beginning to arrive, their wispy ethereal forms drifting up into the blackness above. More were coming, drifting along in a long, orderly line that snaked back across the ocean as far as the eye could see.

"Oh, isn't it lovely," exclaimed Ellen, tears welling up in her silvery eyes.

"It is, my dear," Eli agreed. "It really is."