Epilogue
Munich, Germany
Friedrich Wagner had been out of a job for several months. 'Down on his luck' hardly did the man justice anymore. His wife had left him and his children no longer wished to see him. He was left with no job, several payments, and a looming eviction notice...
...which lead to his aimless wandering of the streets. He'd been certifiably 'homeless' for a while now - at least a few weeks. It was hard to say, really. Wagner no longer had the motivation to so much as look at a newspaper to check the date.
On the street, he'd heard about a mission on the city's west end... the 'bad' side of town. Still, he could get a hot cup of soup and a roof over his head if he just listened to a few words about how good God was.
Some joke, Wanger thought as he walked. If He was as good as people say, then why did He allow me to end up here?
Just then, Wagner heard a light tapping sound coming from an alley as he walked by. Curious, he stopped and looked down into the darkness. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to reveal a young man dressed all in black, his face painted white, with an odd crop of jet black hair atop his head - the sides and back being completely shaved. He wore dark glasses and carried a long pole, which he used to feel his way down the alley.
"What are you doing down there?" Wagner called. "This is a dangerous place for a young man your age to be at night without protection!"
The young man said nothing, but made his way slowly to where Friedrich stood. He looked up into Friedrich's face, his dark round glasses obscuring his eyes. At this range, Friedrich was able to make out dark tattoos on the boy's face.
"Come with me, ja?" Friedrich said, taking the young man by the arm. "I'm heading to a mission where we should be able to get you some soup and a place to rest."
The boy walked along with Friedrich, still not saying a word. His eyebrow arched at the bum who'd gathered him. After a few yards, Wagner chuckled and broke the silence.
"You know, it's been a while since I had someone to talk to... even if they weren't able to talk back," he said. "Sometimes just having someone to listen is good eno--"
Wagner looked down at the young man to notice something... different. The boy had removed his glasses... revealing two empty sockets. Wagner's eyes widened as he looked in closer at the blackness in the boy's eyes that seemed to go on forever.
As the boy opened his mouth, Wagner thought once again about God and His strange absence as he looked into the cold, endless void for the last time...
