The Steadfast Tin Soldier (8)

The Steadfast Tin Soldier (8)

The boat rushed on.
He was so near it he could not possibly stop.

The boat plunged into the whirlpool.
The poor tin soldier stood as stiffly as he could, and no one can say that he so much as blinked an eye.

The boat was swept over.
Thrice and again the boat spun around.
It filled to the top - and was bound to sink. Nothing could stop it from sinking.

The water was up to his neck and still the boat went down, deeper, deeper, deeper, and the paper got soft and limp.

Then the water rushed over his head.
He thought of the pretty little dancer who he'd never see again, and in his ears rang an old, old song:

"Farewell, farewell, O warrior brave. Nobody can from Death thee save."

And now the paper boat broke beneath him, and the soldier sank right through.
And just at that moment he was swallowed by a most enormous fish.

(8/10)