And the Raven Wept

As two octogenarian fishermen float Colorado's Green River in their antiquated wooden boat on what will prove to be the last day of their lives, one terror haunts them: veterans of World War Two who experienced wholesale death, neither fear that, but the possibility of extinction in a nursing home terrifies them. For Dr. Tyrone Washington, NAU Professor Emeritus and Morgan Perkins, recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature, the specter grinds away as they float inexorably toward the thundering roar of Disaster Falls. While spirits rise and sink in search of a plan to avoid the home, the the anglers are visited by a huge Raven of superior intelligence and utter devotion to the sacred creeds of Ravenism. Outranking humans, the snobbish bird laughs at their childish philosophies. "After all," he cries, "Raven was created in the image of God!" Suddenly he notes: "One human is light-colored, the other, dark; why would men of a different feather flock together?" Out of curiosity the Raven decides to haunt the fishermen, comes to understand their language, and, sensing their fears, becomes a muse who can inspire an answer to their problem. But how can he pervade the minds of men and trigger the solution? Their aging is relentless, and time is short...