Story time…lol.
My brothers and I were on a journey to new lands. The accommodations were cramped, but we made due. Keeping each other’s spirits up by telling stories of the many joys that lay waiting for us.
I awoke to more darkness from the latest leg of this odyssey. One of my brothers had informed me that our compartment had been moved at some point and we could hear others nearby.
The oldest of our brothers, Mark, was chatting to a voice in the darkness. Though I was still groggy and paying more attention to the new story Jack was telling to Kevin and George (he’s amazing at coming up with new stuff at a moment’s notice by the way), I caught bits and pieces of what the voice was telling Mark. Celebration, Holiday, and tomorrow were some of the parts that I wanted to hear more about, but Jack’s story was currently much more interesting.
The day dragged on, but I forgot to ask Mark later on about the conversation he had earlier. We spent our time as usual playing word games and conjuring wild stories about our future life until sleep was inevitable for all of us.
While usually a very heavy sleeper, searing pain awoke me from my slumber. I was laying face down on bars of fire. The heat was too much. I couldn’t open my eyes because one of those bars was placed across them. I thought they would boil and burst from the inferno below me. Trying to scream only forced the fire into my throat.
When the pain became too much, I passed out. I awoke the second time to the fiery bars burning into my back. I had been turned over while I was unconscious. The torture was unbearable, but at least I could now scream. It was then that it dawned on me that the screams ringing in my ears were not just my own. At least two of my brothers must be nearby and experiencing the same agony as myself.
What had we done to insult this new land to warrant such a punishment? Why had we been given no warning, no insight into our transgressions?
I screamed to the heavens in my pain and confusion. As if in answer, the sky opened with a blinding light. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes. But even with my eyes shut, the sudden and intense light seemed to burn into the back of my skull.
I could feel myself being lifted up into the air, away from the torment of the fire below. Had my pleas been answered? Was our suffering finally enough to please whoever was in charge here? At least we weren’t dead. I could at least be thankful for that.
Being gently placed into what felt like a soft bed, I was sure that our ordeal was finally over. A coolness was suddenly being draped over parts my burned skin. It was a slight relief and somewhat calmed my nerves slightly from the intense and horrifying experience from just moments ago.
My eyes had adjusted a bit and seemed ready to peer into this new world. I barely had time to notice the ruby and gold chains that held me down before the realization hit that our recent past was only a warm up to our impending future.
The opening chasm was closing the distance rapidly. I would never see my 7 brothers again.