I was facing him before the last word was out, but I should have been dead by then. In a way I did die, right there, all that time ago, and this is a ghost who has been telling you stories and drinking your wine. You don't understand. Never mind.
Peter S. Beagle, The Innkeeper's Song
death, dying, ghosts, lal, lal-after-dark, lal-alone, lalkhamsin-khamsolal, never-mind, sailor-lal, stories, swordcane-lal, telling-stories, wine