An Adventure Through Hell

Emaciated arms covered by the tiniest bit of flesh capture me, holding me close to its decaying form. Gnarled and thin fingers pull my dark hair. Screams of anguish surround me, somehow reverberating from the empty chasm. I punch and watch as bits of grey flesh disintegrate into dust. Scratching at the caverns where its eyes should have been, I could only hope for an end to this hell. The sounds of torment continued, assaulting my ears with one tremendous roar.

My mind races to make sense of all of this as more entities clasp my shoulders. Chains bound these things to one another, and ironically, they all work together in some kind of nightmarish symbiosis. I struggle under their grip the same way they fight against the chains.

“Help,” I scream, adding my voice to the endless cries for mercy.

A hard pull from behind me ushers me backwards. The arms loosen and I breathe a sigh of relief. Turning around to what I assume is another assailant, I feel cold water on my parched tongue. I gulped the liquid without a thought of who was holding the glass.

How long had I been here, really? I thought, and how long were those souls shackled to that wall?

“Tell me how you got here. You’re not supposed to be here,” he proclaims in a soothing voice that somehow manages to relax me.

“I was asleep in my bed until I felt myself sit up. The moon was a pastel blue color, and the air was filled with glitter,” I stammer out a response.

He smiles as he cups my face in his hands. Looking at me with a mix of pride and amusement, he remarked, “and, being the brave little girl that you are, you decided to explore.” His jovial tone took on a darker note as he smirked, “don’t you know what happens when people leave their bodies at night?”

Fear snaked its way through me. “The only time people leave their bodies is death.”

Patting my head, he exclaims, “Now, you are catching on.”

“I’m dead and this is Hell,” I slump down onto the ground absolutely defeated before he lifts me into his arms.

“You are asleep, my darling. That is all. Let’s get you home now.”

“Who are you?” I question as we make our way into the distance.

“It’s not important,” he replies quietly.

A silence fell between us as I now peer at my surroundings with morbid curiosity. Iron bars of a gate jutted from the concrete as people clung to the iron bars, hoping for a pardon that would never come.

We came to a bright green river that contained some kind of glitter. A cloaked figure stared at me menacingly before marching up to us as if he was studying a science experiment.

He screams, “she isn’t dead!” as if being alive was a character flaw that needed to be overcome.

“I know she’s not dead,” my protector replies angrily, making the older man startle. "I need safe passage for her,” he commanded as he sat me on the hard, wooden bottom of the vessel.

“You may be the master here, Sir, but all journeys must be paid for, Hades. You know the rules! Pay now or I throw her into the water with them.”

“Here, take your damn coin,” he demands, as he tosses a large silver disc into the air.