The ferryman of Dock Seven

At five in the morning the harbour city on the server called Saltmere was nearly empty. Ines logged in to the sound of gulls that weren't real, and to her healer standing where she'd left him, on the end of Dock Seven.

The ferry came every eleven minutes. She had timed it years ago during a raid wipe and never forgotten. She sat her healer on the edge of the dock to wait. There was no quest and nothing to do.

A stranger in mismatched armour sat down next to her. His name was a run of consonants, and he was level twelve. He typed that he didn't know where the boat went.

She told him it went across the bay to a town with a good inn and a terrible fishing trainer. He said thanks. Then he asked if she was waiting for someone.

She thought about the guild that had stopped logging in one by one: new jobs, new babies, one wedding. She typed that she was waiting for the boat.

The ferry came in on time, creaking. They rode across together without saying much. On the far dock he bowed, the way new players do when they've just found the emote list, and ran off towards the inn.

Ines stayed on the dock and watched the water reset.