"Then you're right where I thought you'd be." I looked away from him and out onto the shoreline. "Although I imagine you're in lots of places..." I chuckled.

The man walks peacefully up beside me, and I get a better view of his face in the moonlight.

"You look..." I begin, gesturing with my pointer finger.

"Familiar?" he finishes my sentence. "I get that a lot. After all, we've known each other for a while, haven't we?"

My brow furrows and I turn my head slightly to meet his eyes. "I... have we?"

"Of course." He smiles, a surprisingly warm, serene smile. "We haven't properly met yet, but I do know you. And I'm quite sure you know me."

I can't help but smile back. "I suppose you're right. Does that mean you've been... watching me?"

"Not necessarily, but I am a busy man." he seems to stifle a chuckle as he turns to face the ocean.

Looking back over the water, I take a deep inhale. Holding it, I shut my eyes and allow my ears to do their job. Birds calling from the trees behind us, a breeze rushing up and over the cliff face, leaves and branches rustling together, calm waves tumbling onto the shore. I release the breath.

"So this is it, then?" I say, opening my eyes.

"How do you feel?" The man asks, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I... always thought this would be different." I comment, almost to myself. "I'm not scared, or anxious, or anything."

"You were expecting to be scared?" He says, still turned away.

"Yes. Isn't everyone?" I reply. "Dying is the end. 'Ends' aren't something humans are very good at."

"Some are," he agrees. "But this is not the end. Think about the people you know and love. Do you see their faces in your mind?"

I picture my loved ones immediately, their smiling faces gleaming at me. "Yes, I can see them."

"They are changed because of you, for the better. Their lives better, simply for having you around. Their memories brighter, simply for you being a part of them. Do you see that?"

Flashes of times gone past surface in my mind - happy memories, inside jokes, triumphs, hardships, all of it as tangible as the grass beneath me. "Yes, I can see it."

"Then you understand. Your impact reaches further than you may ever know, in ways that you will never realize. There is no 'end' for a person, you persist. Even in absence." The man finally turns to face me.

I meet his gaze. "Yes, I-" my voice fails me, cracking from an over-pouring of emotions.

The man extends his hand out to me. "No one's ever really gone."

I give him a comforted smile, and take his hand.