"All right," said Moe. He put the pill in his mouth and swallowed it with some water from his flask. He waited a few seconds to see if he could feel anything, but he couldn't tell one way or the other. Finally, as the rain pelted down on them in torrents, he leaned against the boulder and pushed with all his might.

     "Push as hard as you can!" the others urged him.

     So Moe pushed as hard as he could, straining every muscle until the veins in his neck bulged and his face turned red. After several seconds he let out a painful gasp -- "Oh!" and collapsed flat on his back. His eyes were open for a moment as he tried to speak, but his last words choked in his throat. Then his eyes closed, and he was absolutely still.

     Zink and Willy knelt over him. They slapped his face. They shook him. They shouted at him. Then they felt his pulse. There was none. They looked at each other in horror. "He's dead!"

     "He must have taken --"

     "--the death pill!"

     The two boys cried as they hugged Moe's lifeless body. The cold rain poured down upon them, chilling them to the bone, but they no longer cared. Their lifelong friend, Moe, was dead. They lay there with him until the storm passed, which seemed like forever.

     As the last few drops fell to the earth and the sky began to brighten little by little, Zink and Willy sat quietly in sad reflection. "I wish we'd never met that fairy!" said Zink angrily.

     "Me neither!" said Willy.

     There was no way to bury their friend, for they had no shovel to dig a grave, and the ground was much too hard anyway. The best they could do was to cover him with some branches and stones. Then they said a little prayer and told him how much they'd miss him.

     When that was done, Zink and Willy looked around, wondering which way was the best to go.

     "I want to go this way," said Zink, pointing east.

     "I'd rather go that way," said Willy, pointing west.

     They argued a bit but could not agree. "Well, let's part here and wish each other good luck," said Zink.

     "Okay," said Willy. "Moe got the death pill, so at least we know both our pills are good. One of us will be rich, and the other will be strong. Either way, we have something to look forward to."

     "Perhaps we'll meet again someday," said Zink. "I'll tell you all about my adventures."

     "I will, too," said Willy. And on that note, the boys shook hands and went their separate ways -- Zink to the east and Willy to the west.

     Zink walked for a long time, imagining a wonderful future. Would he be rich or strong? Well, there was no reason to save the pill any longer, so he decided to swallow his now before he lost it along the way.

     He walked through beautiful meadows with lovely flowers and sweet-smelling grass. There were songbirds in the trees singing as he had never heard songbirds sing before. In fact, he had never imagined such a beautiful land in all his dreams. He came to a stream and drank the water. It was clean and tasted good. There were bushes along the bank with sweet berries. He couldn't have felt happier. Everything was going to turn out fine. I'm such a lucky young fellow! thought Zink.

     He crossed the stream, which was not deep at all, and found a path on the other side and decided to follow it. He walked through the beautiful countryside until he came to a house just off the path. It was the finest house he had ever seen, not at all like the small, shabby cottages of the hamlet he had left behind. This one was shiny with gold and silver trim, excellent stonework, and polished wood. There were rosebushes all around and fine shade trees. The door had a golden knocker. A very rich man must live here, thought Zink. Unless...unless this house was meant for me!

     He knocked at the door. There was no answer. He pushed it open. It wasn't locked. He stepped inside, and his eyes widened in disbelief. The room was filled with riches -- chests of gold and silver coins, jewels, goblets, and exquisite carvings! Yes, this had to be Zink's house! "I got the rich pill!" he exclaimed ecstatically. He dug his hands into a chest of gold coins. "It's mine! It's mine! It's all mine!"

     Suddenly a loud voice shouted from the doorway behind him: "STOP, THIEF!" A pistol fired, and a bullet ripped through Zink's heart. He fell dead.

     Meanwhile, Willy had walked many miles in the other direction, and at the end of the day, he found himself on a high bluff overlooking a valley. A peaceful stream gurgled far below, and the sides of the valley were covered with beautiful trees and shrubs as far as the eye could see. The setting sun lit up the scattered clouds with red, gold, and purple. It was the most magnificent sunset Willy had ever seen. I'm so lucky! he thought. Now was the time to take his golden pill, he decided, with everything so perfect. So he swallowed it with some water and lay on his back, watching the stars come out one by one in the deepening twilight. Yes, tomorrow would be the beginning of a wonderful new life. He would either be very rich or very strong. Tonight he would have happy dreams about his glorious future. And with these happy thoughts, he closed his eyes...for the last time.

     Willy never saw the sun rise again. You see, Willy's golden pill was the death pill.