Death’s godson followed her numbly into an enormous cavern. The floor was covered with thousands upon thousands of lighted candles of all sizes.
‘What are these candles, Godmother?’ he enquired.
‘Each candle represents a human life, my godson,’ she said. ‘The very tall ones are the lives of the newborn; the medium-sized ones are those of folk in middle years; and the shortest ones are those of the old and ailing;