Darkness.

That's all you saw. It surprised you, seeing as how everybody you knew seemed to think that it was a bright white light that met you after a crash.

Since you couldn't see, you tried listening. Ears straining, you heard shuffling feet on stone and the lapping of water. A rocky beach in the night? Except why was there no light from the moon and the stars?

A flash of fire rippled across the water's surface, so fast and so comparatively bright that you didn't get a chance to see much of anything. Just the impression of people around you and a body of water beside them all. No, this was definitely no ordinary beach.

A few more temporary flames ran across the water, but only one flame in the distance held. It grew slowly but surely, until you could make out the shape of a small boat, maybe the size of one of those old launches on an old wooden ship. It had a small lantern hanging above it to light the way. By the time it beached, you could see the hooded shape at the prow.

A chill ran down your spine as you realized where you were. At the mouth of the river Styx, and you without any coin.

SWIM the Styx, EXPLORE the area, speak to the FERRYMAN, or STAND in place?

[Please write only one of the words in all caps. Answers are not case sensitive.]