The Groom
The day wears on…
As we pass through a shattered landscape of gnarled trees and jagged cliffs, we see a figure wandering sorrowfully among the rocks: a feeble, ancient man wearing a gold-flecked shawl and a ceremonial cummerbund. As we hail the elder, he turns his sorrowful face upon us. His eyes are dark pits, his cheeks shrunken apples beneath his skin.
He speaks. “Once, I was to be wed to the love of my life. But as I made for our meeting place, I lost my way. Now I wander these hollow lands and hilly lands, lost into eternity. Even were I to find her now, my love would no longer want me, for I am not the man I was. And yet I cannot bring myself to depart this world…”
As he stares mournfully across the peaks, we take pity on the poor ghost. It seems that he needs our permission to depart this mortal coil. And yet his own sorrows keep him here.
Otherwise, continue below.
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The Conundrum
The spirit of the Groom despairs of his endless search. Should he depart this world for the next, or keep looking for his beloved?
The travellers may freely discuss.
Then, clockwise starting with the Reader, each traveller takes it in turns to choose their advice to the Groom: whether to KEEP SEARCHING, or to DEPART FOR THE NEXT LIFE.
If the vote is tied, the Reader casts the deciding vote.