Week 15 Story - Exit The Inferno

exit the inferno

author's note: i start off in the final circle of hell in this story and see where that leads. since this is my last story of the semester this is going to be really free form and loose.

bibliography:
dante's inferno translated by tony kline

what am i even doing down here. why am i here?
who did you betray said a voice in the distance.
betray? no one.
only betrayers live here. we all betrayed someone.
i didn't betray anyone!

the earth shakes as hell knows that is a lie

i didn't!
if that were the case the earth would not be as mad as she is.
does going out to dinner with a life long friend count as betrayal?

the earth screeches

in what sense? asked the voices.
i took a life long friend out to dinner while she was in town. got hit by a cab outside the restaurant.
are you married? asked the voices.
yes.
then that is the betrayal.
i would never. there is some mistake.

mother earth begins to realize that it could be a mistake so she presses those in the ninth circle of hell to make him speak more.

who is she? asked the voices.
a friend from childhood that i haven't seen in a decades.
why was she here? they asked.
to have dinner with an old friend.
what is she to you? they pressed.
a friend and what should have been a business partner.

mother earth opens up as she sees the mistake she made and sends him back to the land of the living.

he awakens in a hospital to his wife and friend making small talk.

what'd i miss? he asked.
we just hammered out a deal where we can be business partners the friend replied.
your friend is persistent. i can see why you two were the best of friends for so long.
well she's a thorn in my side and now she gets to tell me i can't do x, y, or z because i could mess everything up again he said.
did you two date? asked the wife.
no. she ran the lemonade stand i bankrupted us for three summers in a row when we were growing up. he answered.

waking up from a highway out of hell