[Off-topic] Dirk:
...

"Hmmm." Jack looked back out into the darkness for a while.

Nate watched him, waiting.

"Nate," continued Jack, quietly, eventually. "What did Samuel ask for with

his third request?"

Nate sounded like he was grinning again as he replied, also quietly,

"Wisdom, Jack. He asked for wisdom. As much as I could give him."

"Ok," said Jack, suddenly, standing up and facing away from Nate, "give it

to me.

Nate looked at Jack's backside. "Give you what, Jack?"

"Give me that wisdom. The same stuff that Samuel asked for. If it helped

him, maybe it'll help me too." Jack turned his head to look back over his

shoulder at Nate. "It did help him, right?"

"He said it did," replied Nate. "But he seemed a little quieter afterward.

Like he had a lot to think about."

"Well, yeah, I can see that," said Jack. "So, give it to me." Jack turned to

face away from Nate again, bent over slightly and tensed up.

Nate watched Jack tense up with a little exasperation. If he bit Jack now,

Jack would likely jump out of his skin and maybe hurt them both.

"You remember that you'll be bound to destroy humanity if it ever looks like

it needs it, right Jack?" asked Nate, shifting position.

"Yeah, yeah, I got that," replied Jack, eyes squeezed tightly shut and body

tense, not noticing the change in direction of Nate's voice.

"And," continued Nate, from his new position, "do you remember that you'll

turn bright purple, and grow big horns and extra eyes?"

"Yeah, yeah...Hey, wait a minute!" said Jack, opening his eyes,

straightening up and turning around. "Purple?!" He didn't see Nate there.

With the moonlight Jack could see that the lever extended up from its slot

in the rock without the snake wrapped around it.

Jack heard, from behind him, Nate's "Just Kidding!" right before he felt the

now familiar piercing pain, this time in the other buttock.

Jack sat on the edge of the dark stone in the rapidly cooling air, his feet

extending out into the sand. He stared out into the darkness, listening to

the wind stir the sand, occasionally rubbing his butt where he'd been

recently bitten.

Nate had left for a little while, had come back with a desert-rodent-shaped

bulge somewhere in his middle, and was now wrapped back around the lever,

his tongue flicking out into the desert night's air the only sign that he

was still awake.

Occasionally Jack, with his toes absentmindedly digging in the sand while he

thought, would ask Nate a question without turning around.

"Nate, do accidents count?"

Nate lifted his head a little bit. "What do you mean, Jack?"

Jack tilted his head back like he was looking at the stars. "You know,

accidents. If I accidentally fall on the lever, without meaning to, does

that still wipe out humanity?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it does, Jack. I'd suggest you be careful about that

if you start feeling wobbly," said Nate with some amusement.

A little later - "Does it have to be me that pulls the lever?" asked Jack.

"That's the rule, Jack. Nobody else can pull it," answered Nate.

"No," Jack shook his head, "I meant does it have to be my hand? Could I pull

the lever with a rope tied around it? Or push it with a stick? Or throw a

rock?"

"Yes, those should work," replied Nate. "Though I'm not sure how complicated

you could get. Samuel thought about trying to build some kind of remote

control for it once, but gave it up. Everything he'd build would be gone by

the next sunrise, if it was touching the stone, or over it. I told him that

in the past others that had been bound had tried to bury the lever so they

wouldn't be tempted to pull it, but every time the stones or sand or

whatever had disappeared."

"Wow," said Jack, "Cool." Jack leaned back until only his elbows kept him

off of the stone and looked up into the sky.

"Nate, how long did Samuel live? One of his wishes was for health too,

right?" asked Jack.

"Yes," replied Nate, "it was. He lived 167 years, Jack."

"Wow, 167 years. That's almost 140 more years I'll live if I live as long.

Do you know what he died of, Nate?"

"He died of getting tired of living, Jack," Nate said, sounding somewhat

sad.

Jack turned his head to look at Nate in the starlight.

Nate looked back. "Samuel knew he wasn't going to be able to stay in

society. He figured that they'd eventually see him still alive and start

questioning it, so he decided that he'd have to disappear after a while. He

faked his death once, but changed his mind - he decided it was too early and

he could stay for a little longer. He wasn't very fond of mankind, but he

liked the attention. Most of the time, anyway.

"His daughter and then his wife dying almost did him in though. He didn't

stay in society much longer after that. He eventually came out here to spend

time talking to me and thinking about pulling the lever. A few months ago he

told me he'd had enough. It was his time."

"And then he just died?" asked Jack.

Nate shook his head a little. "He made his forth request, Jack. There's only

one thing you can ask for the fourth request. The last bite.

After a bit Nate continued, "He told me that he was tired, that it was his

time. He reassured me that someone new would show up soon, like they always

had.

After another pause, Nate finished, "Samuel's body disappeared off the stone

with the sunrise."

Jack lay back down and looked at the sky, leaving Nate alone with his

memories. It was a long time until Jack's breathing evened out into sleep.

Jack woke with the sunrise the next morning. He was a little chilled with

the morning desert air, but overall was feeling pretty good. Well, except

that his stomach was grumbling and he wasn't willing to eat raw desert rat.

So, after getting directions to town from Nate, making sure he knew how to

get back, and reassuring Nate that he'd be back soon, Jack started the long

walk back to town. With his new health and Nate's good directions, he made

it back easily.

Jack caught a bus back to the city, and showed up for work the next day,

little worse for the wear and with a story about getting lost in the desert

and walking back out. Within a couple of days Jack had talked a friend with

a tow truck into going back out into the desert with him to fetch the SUV.

They found it after a couple of hours of searching and towed it back without

incident. Jack was careful not to even look in the direction of Nate's

lever, though their path back didn't come within sight of it.

Before the next weekend, Jack had gone to a couple of stores, including a

book store, and had gotten his SUV back from the mechanic, with a warning to

avoid any more joyriding in the desert. On Saturday, Jack headed back to see

Nate.

Jack parked a little way out of the small town near Nate, loaded up his new

backpack with camping gear and the things he was bringing for Nate, and then

started walking. He figured that walking would leave the least trail, and he

knew that while not many people camped in the desert, it wasn't unheard of,

and shouldn't really raise suspicions.

Jack had brought more books for Nate - recent books, magazines, newspapers.

Some things that would catch Nate up with what was happening in the world,

others that were just good books to read. He spent the weekend with Nate,

and then headed out again, telling Nate that he'd be back again soon, but

that he had things to do first.

Over four months later Jack was back to see Nate again. This time he brought

a laptop with him - a specially modified laptop. It had a solar recharger,

special filters and seals to keep out the sand, a satellite link-up, and a

special keyboard and joystick that Jack hoped that a fifteen-foot

rattlesnake would be able to use. And, it had been hacked to not give out

its location to the satellite.

After that Jack could e-mail Nate to keep in touch, but still visited him

fairly regularly - at least once or twice a year.

After the first year, Jack quit his job. For some reason, with the wisdom he

'd been given, and the knowledge that he could live for over 150 years,

working in a nine to five job for someone else didn't seem that worthwhile

any more. Jack went back to school.

Eventually, Jack started writing. Perhaps because of the wisdom, or perhaps

because of his new perspective, he wrote well. People liked what he wrote,

and he became well known for it. After a time, Jack bought an RV and started

traveling around the country for book signings and readings.

But, he still remembered to drop by and visit Nate occasionally.

On one of the visits Nate seemed quieter than usual. Not that Nate had been

a fountain of joy lately. Jack's best guess was that Nate was still missing

Samuel, and though Jack had tried, he still hadn't been able to replace

Samuel in Nate's eyes. Nate had been getting quieter each visit. But on this

visit Nate didn't even speak when Jack walked up to the lever. He nodded at

Jack, and then went back to staring into the desert. Jack, respecting Nate's

silence, sat down and waited.

After a few minutes, Nate spoke. "Jack, I have someone to introduce you to."

Jack looked surprised. "Someone to introduce me to?" Jack looked around, and then looked carefully back at Nate. "This something to do with the Big Guy?

"No, no," replied Nate. "This is more personal. I want you to meet my son."

Nate looked over at the nearest sand dune. "Sammy!"

Jack watched as a four foot long desert rattlesnake crawled from behind the

dune and up to the stone base of the lever.

"Yo, Jack," said the new, much smaller snake.

"Yo, Sammy" replied Jack. Jack looked at Nate. "Named after Samuel, I

assume?"

Nate nodded. "Jack, I've got a favor to ask you. Could you show Sammy around

for me?" Nate unwrapped himself from the lever and slithered over to the

edge of the stone and looked across the sands. "When Samuel first told me

about the world, and brought me books and pictures, I wished that I could go see it. I wanted to see the great forests, the canyons, the cities, even the

other deserts, to see if they felt and smelled the same. I want my son to

have that chance - to see the world. Before he becomes bound here like I have been.

"He's seen it in pictures, over the computer that you brought me. But I hear that it's not the same. That being there is different. I want him to have

that. Think you can do that for me, Jack?"

Jack nodded. This was obviously very important to Nate, so Jack didn't even

joke about taking a talking rattlesnake out to see the world. "Yeah, I can

do that for you, Nate. Is that all you need?" Jack could sense that was

something more.

Nate looked at Sammy. Sammy looked back at Nate for a second and then said,

"Oh, yeah. Ummm, I've gotta go pack. Back in a little bit Jack. Nice to meet

ya!" Sammy slithered back over the dune and out of sight.

Nate watched Sammy disappear and then looked back at Jack. "Jack, this is my

first son. My first offspring through all the years. You don't even want to

know what it took for me to find a mate." Nate grinned to himself. "But

anyway, I had a son for a reason. I'm tired. I'm ready for it to be over. I

needed a replacement."

Jack considered this for a minute. "So, you're ready to come see the world,

and you wanted him to watch the lever while you were gone?"

Nate shook his head. "No, Jack - you're a better guesser than that. You've

already figured out - I'm bound here - there's only one way for me to leave

here. And I'm ready. It's my time to die."

Jack looked more closely at Nate. He could tell Nate had thought about

this - probably for quite a while. Jack had trouble imagining what it would

be like to be as old as Nate, but Jack could already tell that in another

hundred or two hundred years, he might be getting tired of life himself.

Jack could understand Samuel's decision, and now Nate's. So, all Jack said

was, "What do you want me to do?"

Nate nodded. "Thanks, Jack. I only want two things. One - show Sammy around

the world - let him get his fill of it, until he's ready to come back here

and take over. Two - give me the fourth request.

"I can't just decide to die, not any more than you can. I won't even die of

old age like you eventually will, even though it'll be a long time from now.

I need to be killed. Once Sammy is back here, ready to take over, I'll be

able to die. And I need you to kill me.

"I've even thought about how. Poisons and other drugs won't work on me. And

I've seen pictures of snakes that were shot - some of them live for days, so

that's out too. So, I want you to bring back a sword.

Nate turned away to look back to the dune that Sammy had gone behind. "I'd

say an axe, but that's somewhat undignified - putting my head on the ground

or a chopping block like that. No, I like a sword. A time-honored way of

going out. A dignified way to die. And, most importantly, it should work,

even on me.

"You willing to do that for me, Jack?" Nate turned back to look at Jack.

"Yeah, Nate," replied Jack solemnly, "I think I can handle that."

Nate nodded. "Good!" He turned back toward the dune and shouted, "Sammy!

Jack's about ready to leave!" Then quietly, "Thanks, Jack."

Jack didn't have anything to say to that, so he waited for Sammy to make it

back to the lever, nodded to him, nodded a final time to Nate, and then

headed into the desert with Sammy following.

Over the next several years Sammy and Jack kept in touch with Nate through

e-mail as they went about their adventures. They made a goal of visiting

every country in the world, and did a respectable job of it. Sammy had a

natural gift for languages, as Jack expected he would, and even ended up

acting as a translator for Jack in a few of the countries. Jack managed to

keep the talking rattlesnake hidden, even so, and by the time they were

nearing the end of their tour of countries, Sammy had only been spotted a

few times. While there were several people that had seen enough to startle

them greatly, nobody had enough evidence to prove anything, and while a few

wild rumors and storied followed Jack and Sammy around, nothing ever hit the

newspapers or the public in general.

When they finished the tour of countries, Jack suggested that they try some

undersea diving. They did. And spelunking. They did that too. Sammy finally

drew the line at visiting Antarctica. He'd come to realize that Jack was

stalling. After talking to his Dad about it over e-mail, he figured out that

Jack probably didn't want to have to kill Nate. Nate told Sammy that humans

could be squeamish about killing friends and acquaintances.

So, Sammy eventually put his tail down (as he didn't have a foot) and told

Jack that it was time - he was ready to go back and take up his duties from

his dad. Jack, delayed it a little more by insisting that they go back to

Japan and buy an appropriate sword. He even stretched it a little more by

getting lessons in how to use the sword. But, eventually, he'd learned as

much as he was likely to without dedicating his life to it, and was

definitely competent enough to take the head off of a snake. It was time to

head back and see Nate.

When they got back to the US, Jack got the old RV out of storage where he

and Sammy had left it after their tour of the fifty states, he loaded up

Sammy and the sword, and they headed for the desert.

When they got to the small town that Jack had been trying to find those

years ago when he'd met Nate, Jack was in a funk. He didn't really feel like

walking all of the way out there. Not only that, but he'd forgotten to

figure the travel time correctly, and it was late afternoon. They'd either

have to spend the night in town and walk out tomorrow, or walk in the dark.

As Jack was afraid that if he waited one more night he might lose his

resolve, he decided that he'd go ahead and drive the RV out there. It was

only going to be this once, and Jack would go back and cover the tracks

afterward. They ought to be able to make it out there by nightfall if they

drove, and then they could get it over tonight.

Jack told Sammy to e-mail Nate that they were coming as he drove out of

sight of the town on the road. They then pulled off the road and headed out

into the desert.

Everything went well, until they got to the sand dunes. Jack had been

nursing the RV along the whole time, over the rocks, through the creek beds,

revving the engine the few times they almost got stuck. When they came to

the dunes, Jack didn't really think about it, he just downshifted and headed

up the first one. By the third dune, Jack started to regret that he'd

decided to try driving on the sand. The RV was fishtailling and losing

traction. Jack was having to work it up each dune slowly and was trying to

keep from losing control each time they came over the top and slid down the

other side. Sammy had come up to sit in the passenger seat, coiled up and

laughing at Jack's driving.

As they came over the top of the fourth dune, the biggest one yet, Jack saw

that this was the final dune - the stone, the lever, and somewhere Nate,

waited below. Jack put on the brakes, but he'd gone a little too far. The RV

started slipping down the other side.

Jack tried turning the wheel, but he didn't have enough traction. He pumped

the brakes - no response. They started sliding down the hill, faster and

faster.

Jack felt a shock go through him as he suddenly realized that they were

heading for the lever. He looked down - the RV was directly on course for

it. If Jack didn't do something, the RV would hit it. He was about to end

humanity.

Jack steered more frantically, trying to get traction. It still wasn't

working. The dune was too steep, and the sand too loose. In a split second,

Jack realized that his only chance would be once he hit the stone around the

lever - he should have traction on the stone for just a second before he hit

the lever - he wouldn't have time to stop, but he should be able to steer

away.

Jack took a better grip on the steering wheel and tried to turn the RV a

little bit - every little bit would help. He'd have to time his turn just

right.

The RV got to the bottom of the dune, sliding at an amazing speed in the

sand. Just before they reached the stone Jack looked across it to check that

they were still heading for the lever. They were. But Jack noticed something

else that he hadn't seen from the top of the dune. Nate wasn't wrapped

around the lever. He was off to the side of the lever, but still on the

stone, waiting for them. The problem was, he was waiting on the same side of

the lever that Jack had picked to steer towards to avoid the lever. The RV

was already starting to drift that way a little in its mad rush across the

sand and there was no way that Jack was going to be able to go around the

lever to the other side.

Jack had an instant of realization. He was either going to have to hit the

lever, or run over Nate. He glanced over at Sammy and saw that Sammy

realized the same thing.

Jack took a firmer grip on the steering wheel as the RV ran up on the stone.

Shouting to Sammy as he pulled the steering wheel, "BETTER NATE THAN LEVER," he ran over the snake.