Light At The End

Hunting had been a favorite past time of Will and Bart for many years since they were kids growing up, so hunting together was second hand for them, they were walking through the woods like they always did on the way to their game, when Bart stopped his brother and asked him. "Will ever think of death?" Will thought this to be a really bad choice of conversations but he would answer him anyways, "Will it's not something I linger on, why do you ask?" Bart just looked at his brother and pointed, "Doesn't that look like that light at the end of the tunnel you keep hearing about?" Will looked and it was a clearing of trees with a center of light right in the middle, "Well yeah it does but this isn't us dying that's just pretty your getting things confused." Bart could have slapped the back of his head, "I didn't mean that we were dying I was just making a point, you know the stories grandpa used to tell us." Will remembered well the stories his grandfather had told him about what happens after death but it still wasn't a memory he liked to talk about, "Yeah I remember you dern fool, come one lets get the game." With that they were off to get after the animals they were here to hunt, and after a full day of it and their limits full they went back home to enjoy the rest of the evening. A short year later Will walked up to the hospital and laid his hand on the side of it looked into his brothers eyes, "Bart is there anything I can do for you?" Bart was weak from the chemo but he opened his eyes to see his brothers eyes filling with tears." Bart said the usual but his last request was a little odd, "Well you know just help my wife try and move on, and teach my boys to hunt like we do, but this is one thing I want you to do for me and my head stone, go that same place I saw last year and take a picture of it, you know the place where it looked like a light at the end of a tunnel?" Will knew the place so he answered, "You want me to have that picture placed on your stone?" Bart smiled a short time, "No you fool I want it engraved on the back of my stone." Will answered, "You know I'll do it but you just hang in there you can't die on me yet we got that lodge leased out for Deer season you and I never miss the lodge." Bart got serious one of the few times in his life, "Be real Will, I'm dying I didn't know I was dying until it was too late so promise me that you'll do that for my last request now get going get the photo I want to see it before I go." Then Will left the hospital room without saying another word, and got to his truck drove to his home and got his good camera, then he drove the forty miles to the place where he and his brother had found that same spot. He raised his camera and took around ten shots of the place, then without so much as looking around he got back into his truck and drove right to the photo shop and got the photo's printed, then he went right back to the hospital. When he arrived on the floor of the hospital he found that Bart had past on just a little after he had left, he didn't own a cell phone so no one was able to contact him. When he finally got home that night he sat down and began to cry hard, when his wife came to comfort him he told her, "He had me taking photo's for him today I had to go all the way out to the forest." His wife not understanding fully why asked him, "What did he have take photo's of?" Will answered, "Oh Nancy he found a certain place last year he liked real well and he wants it put on his stone here's the photo's if you want to see them." Nancy took the photo's and opened them up and started leafing through them, when she saw something that took her breath, "WILL LOOK!" Will jumped when she yelled but took the photo and looked at it, his eyes were raining tears at this time but a peace came over him. "That's Bart waving goodbye walking into the light, I'll keep this for myself no one is to know it exist except you and me, we'll use this one for his stone." Nancy looked at the photo he wanted to use for the engraving, "The door is still opened." Will answered, "So people can know that the door is always opened."