World's End Read Online Free PDF Page A

the man. He had a full black beard and he wore polarized sunglasses. "You are American, yes?" he asked, in fluent but halting English.
    Alfonso nodded.
    "You will enjoy the Three Sphinxes," he said. "Not many tourists visit, but those who do enjoy seeing it very much. Please, come inside."
    Alfonso hesitated and looked around.
    The taxi driver laughed in a friendly manner. "There is no one else," he said. "And why should there be? There is barely enough business for me!"
    Another cool air-conditioned breeze reached Alfonso. He stepped into the taxi and let out a sigh of relief as he sank into the spotless leather seats. The driver handed him a bottle of cold water and they sped off into the desert.
    "Where are you from?" asked the driver.
    "America," replied Alfonso.
    "But where exactly? We have tourists coming from all over!"
    "World's End," said Alfonso.
    The driver quivered, as if a chill had just passed through his body. He stared at Alfonso through the rearview mirror.
    "World's End?" he said in a soft but now serious voice. "Is this the World's End in the state of Minnesota or the one in Alaska?"
    Alfonso was astounded. Very few people knew that there was a town of this name in either place.
    "It's the one in Minnesota," replied Alfonso tentatively. "I'm amazed that you have heard of either of them."
    "Don't be amazed," said the driver with a kind smile. "I am a fan of geography—especially of the great northern regions, which are so often blanketed in snow and ice."
    After this strange response, the driver said nothing more, and drove deeper into the desert. Alfonso couldn't see any road, but the driver seemed to know every inch of the land. The landscape was dotted with countless boulders and other good-sized rocks that blended into the ground, but the taxi avoided them all.
    Several minutes later, the taxi swerved to a stop. Alfonso opened the door and stepped out. Only then did he see that the taxi had stopped about thirty feet away from the edge of a sheer cliff. Far below lay the Mediterranean. It shimmered a deep blue and stretched hundreds of miles to the horizon. To his right, near the cliff's edge, stood three tall sculptures, each about the size of a house.
    "This is the place," confirmed the driver, who was still inside the taxi. "Be careful of the cliff, my young friend. The water is quite dangerous. The currents are powerful, and many unfortunate souls have drowned." With that, he settled into the driver's seat and began taking a nap.
    Alfonso walked slowly to the edge of the cliff and looked down, several hundred feet below, to the Mediterranean. The water looked cold and inviting after the dusty minivan ride from Alexandria. He looked to his right and stared at the Three Sphinxes. Just as the hotel manager had described, the first sphinx was crying, the second one was laughing, and the third one was sleeping. Alfonso carefully studied the Sleeping Sphinx. It had the muscular body of a lion, two large ears, a small human face, and a set of eyes that appeared to be firmly shut.
    Upon closer inspection, Alfonso noticed that the Sleeping Sphinx's left eyelid was cocked open just slightly, as if it were trying to see something out of the corner of its eye. Instantly, Alfonso recalled the words that his father had written in his book: "Which one of them has the watchful eye?"
    Alfonso tried to follow the gaze of the watchful eye, which seemed to be directed toward the edge of the cliff. Alfonso walked along the cliff until, quite by chance, he noticed an unusual-looking flat stone jutting over the edge. Alfonso walked over to examine the stone and discovered that it was actually the top step in a frighteningly narrow and steep staircase that wound its way downward to the crashing waves below. Alfonso was soon trotting down the staircase at a brisk pace, overcome with excitement.
    The staircase descended directly into the sea. Alfonso paused just above the crashing waves and looked up at the Sleeping