It’s not the fire and brimstone they would have you believe. It feels like an enclosed space beneath something, such as a basement. The difference it is vast. There is nature as it is on Earth. Plants, bodies of water, sky, soil exist in the same manner. However, there is a pit of molten lava with long sturdy shackles made of Schmeckle, a non-Earthly element attached to the earth surrounding the pit, meant to hold any wayward angels just above the lava. That is punishment for them.
Those in Hell live as they would on Earth, but there’s no death nor any catering to living needs. You sleep, fight, play games. Any injuries are temporary, sometimes debilitating impairments that render you weaker during that time. It’s a problem because anything you claim as yours can be taken if you can’t defend it. There’s not much to have but location is useful, just more comfort if you’re not near the fiery pit. Boundaries are set and defended in anyway each party agrees to. There’s never any real reason to get outside parties to intervene. If they do, it becomes a problem if Devil personally has to be bothered. Anyone involved, is punished.
Punishments include joining the military and fighting wars against God as Devil fancies regaining access to and even control of Heaven. Nobody thinks it’s a winning situation because they’ve never come close to winning, only suffering at God’s hands.
When humans end up in hell, they don’t really know they’re in hell. Their bodies no longer exist. Their soul interacts in what appears to be Earth. They lack their traditional five senses that would differentiate real Earth from Hell. Whenever they realize the atrocities around them, they just think “The world is going to hell in a hand basket “ when they’re actually already there. The good experiences such as people being good humans still exist but not as a constant. There’s no concept of time so nobody knows how often anything happens. They just know it happens.
Imagine spending eternity in a world that seems largely familiar, your past life and world forgotten, but you can’t put your finger on it. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why does this feel so familiar?”? It’s probably because it is feel familiar. As you read this story, try to place yourself in the shoes of the main characters who have left Earth but are accidentally in Hell with the goal of leaving.
“Kenedi come see this, hurry. You’re going to love it!” “Ok, here I come. What is it?” As Kenedi arrives to Traci's room, she sees Traci standing in the middle of the room with something in her hand. Traci lifts the soft cap shaped object made of silicone gel to eye level for both of them. She states in a normal tone, “I place this on my head when nobody is around so I can relax. I close my eyes, take deep, even breaths and begin a meditation. . . Kenedi immediately ducks her head as if someone could see or hear her and says, "That’s illegal! You know what’ll happen for meditating! I don’t want to know. I do not love it!!”
She turns to leave but Traci grabs her shoulder in protest, “Stop. Just hear me out. Nobody comes around here and I even have a hidden spot even you don’t know about.” Traci let’s go and questions, “You ok?”
Kenedi crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes, “Yes, I’m ok. For now. But, this better be worth the risk.”
Traci smiles, “Ok. So once I found this little cap, I carried it around because it was different. And it’s cool to the touch. So one day while I was in my secret room preparing to meditate, I put it on my head because I was hot. During this meditation session I remembered the day mom took us to the pool and you beat me in a 100m butterfly race. I was mad and wanted to try again but we had to leave. We went to get ice cream and stopped by Aunt K’s house to watch a movie and have gourmet popcorn. Do you remember that day?” Kenedi shook her head “No, but what’s the point?” Traci paces back and forth, fidgeting , “The point is I didn’t remember before I meditated with the cap. It’s not just a one off, I’ve been doing this for weeks now. I’ve been remembering all kinds of things. But the thing is, they’re mostly good memories.” Kenedi stands still, shock holding her hostage. “Who have you told?” “Just you” “That's why you've been so perky lately. Why are you just now telling me? How do you know this isn’t some kind of trick and GovAMS isn’t tracking you?” “Because I’ve been a ghost this long and I’ve been doing this for awhile. Nobody knows.” “Well, where did you get it?”, arms still crossed against her chest. Traci approaches Kenedi, arms extended, “Here, hold this for me”, as she attempts to place the cap in Kenedi's arms, an old sales tactic she learned as a little girl. Kenedi jerks away but noticed the cap falling to the ground, so she caught it by instinct, “ASSHOLE!!”, she shouts, “take it back!” Traci looks around, “follow me”, as she leads Kenedi to her private room. “Trust me, this is so valuable, we could buy the entire family a seat on the shuttle to Mitsuna and start a new life. A good one!” “A wealthy one” chimes Kenedi. They reach the hidden room, it’s a small hole in the wall between Traci's room and the kitchen. Kenedi fell through during a scuffle with Traci when they were younger. It’s pretty much hidden by Traci's bed. Their parents couldn’t afford to fix it so it’s been forgotten.
Traci instructed Kenedi to climb through the hole and guided her through a meditation practice, during which she told her when to put the cap on and they continued quietly meditating together.
Kenedi complained “You’re wasting my time, I can meditate on my own. Nothing’s happening.” Traci calmly finishes an inhale and exhales before responding, “You’re not relaxed, so YOU'RE wasting your time. Meditate as you will. Feel the coolness of the cap? Fall into that.”
It’s quiet for a few minutes until Kenedi softly gasps, “Oh my. . . Wow. OK” and climbs out of the whole, “Remember that time mom and dad took all of us to the Lake to go camping for the weekend and it rained so much we could only swim in the first day? So instead of sandcastles, we built mud huts?”
“Absolutely. Best time ever! We should definitely do it agai. . .”
Kenedi cuts Traci off mid-sentence. “Wait. Do you know what this means?” “Of course I do.” They speak simultaneously: Kenedi: “We can recover more happy memories, so can mom, dad, and Jon and. . . “ Traci: “People will pay us to recover their good memories. . . “
They both stop and look at one another. Kenedi side eyes Traci, Traci looks confused. Kenedi speaks immediately, “You can't help being selfish." Traci spits, "Its the opposite but that’s hard to see when youre so self absorbed!" Traci storms out of the room but immediately returns, "Give it back. And its my room, YOU get out."
Kenedi cups her hands over the cap still on her head, "Gladly." She pushes past Traci while shoving her shoulder into Traci's shoulder. Traci spins and quickly grabs the collar of Kenedi's shirt, yanking her to the ground. She sits on Kenedi's stomach and starts choking her just enough to get Kenedi to let go of the cap and grab her arms. Traci managed to free one hand and grab the cap from Kenedi's head.
Traci stood up, cap in hand. “Like I said, I'm selling memories. Nobody is going to tell bc they're going to pay a lot of money for good memories. Once i have enough mkney, we're leaving.”
Flowing through my garden. It would be gentle and light like chamomile, warm like vanilla. It would be peaceful like lavender swaying brightly in the breeze. It would be thoughtful like rosemary, and soothing like lemon balm. It would smell like the calm of mugwort and the sweet focus like mint.
He would not look me in the eye. “So tell me what happened or leave.” I demanded. He remained silent, eyes darting around for an excuse but I was almost certain I knew what happened. I just needed confirmation.
I throat chopped him to show him I was serious. Caught off guard he made a short choking sound and took a step backwards, “Ah, so your voice does work. You can choose to use it or I can choose to make it literally useless.”
He takes a deep breath but coughs a little. OK, I. . . I love you.” I was so enraged by this obvious lie which was just an attempt to avoid telling the truth Thai I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of ice water. I was too angry to continue this game without becoming violent.
He followed me and asked, “Are you calm now?”. I launched the glass of water at him and he barely dodged it. He was angry now,, “Listen Carrie, if you’re going. . No.” He ducked again bc a knife went flying past his ear, he shouts “STOP!!. LISTEN”
I stated, as calmly as possible, “I only want to hear one thing or the next knife won’t miss”. He took a step to the left and stood beside the refrigerator, with a wave of his arm, “Follow me”. . I picked up another knife and followed him into the basement carefully. He goes over to the the extra deep freezer, cautiously lifts the top and beckons me over. I didn’t trust him at all so I lifted my arm into the throwing position and said “You know better. No more warnings.”. He pulls a black contractor bag upwards just enough to show me the lifeless head of my stalker, with empty eye sockets. I sigh in relief, “I thought you’d never take care of this situation. I thought you’d gone weak because he used to be a friend. Leave it, we can deal with it tomorrow”. I walked over and gave him a passionate kiss. “I love you. Let’s go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day!”
“Ever since you moved here, you’ve said that you had other options. If cohabitation is a problem, then maybe we can sit down for a chat. Right now, I’m late for an appointment. See you later!”
Tavia calmly walks toward the front door, a slight frown on her face, masking the anger she felt. The door opens and closes for her as she exits. The thick New Orleans heat happily greets her, a warm breeze wrapping around her shoulders. Tavia smiles. She has been successfully working on controlling her facial expressions so her clients can be more at ease. However, it’s been more difficult to control when it comes to her cousin Marrah.
Marrah is exactly 3 months older than Tavia, but Marrah is extremely arrogant about her craft. She’s a seductress, similar to Aphrodite, so to speak. It’s effective on people, who are susceptible to external influences. Her beauty is not the craft, but it doesn’t hurt. She cannot control minds but she can influence. Tavia is more traditionally aligned with nature, however, she hasn’t honed her skills as much.
Their family, the Duvernay’s, descends from Creole witches. Each generation, the eldest daughter’s first daughter gains their power in a Spring ritual after their 16th birthday. They spend their lives honing their craft.
Tavia heads into the nearby woods to ground herself. As an herbalist, it’s natural for her to go foraging in the woods. It’s been her favorite place since she was a child. It helps quiet her mind and process any troubles she’s facing. She tells the trees her problems. The speaking out loud usually helps her solve her problems.
Today was different. As per her usual, Tavia sought out specific herbs. The thanked each plant for its offering and placed the material in a handmade woven basket passed down for generations. As she started to walk away, she heard strange sounds, unlike the sounds she usually hears while foraging. The sounds had taken on a sing songy melody, which she couldn’t comprehend no matter how hard she tried. She called out, “Hello?”, but the sounds continued and nobody responded. She was not afraid of nature so she continued foraging.
Whenever she harvested plant material, the sounds would return but over time she realized they were more defined. It was almost like different voices going back and forth with eachother. Not until she called out “Hello?” and the sounds stopped did she become nervous.
For the first time, nature acknowledged her. She called out again, “Hello, don’t stop speaking. I’m listening.” After a few beats, the sounds continued but this time the more she listened, the more she understood. They weren’t talking to her, they were talking to eachother in a language that may as well be out of this world but it somehow seemed familiar.
A memory of her sitting cross legged in front of her grandmother while her grandmother taught her how to prepare medicinal herbs crosses her mind. Her grandmother spoke a weird language she didn’t understand. It resembled what she was currently hearing. Except her grandmother followed with words she knew but didn’t understand.
"Mother Earth, hear my plea. Grant me the power of these leaves and roots. They shall shield our kin from harm. In your name, I make this promise. We shall guard these lands, forevermore. We are one."
She realized her grandmother was also teaching her the protection spell that had been passed down to her. Everything her mother and grandmother taught her started to make sense. “I know how to protect the land but from whom or what? What are the trees saying?”
An idea to talk to the trees, in hopes of a response comes to mind. She asks aloud, “What are you saying? Help me understand so I can be useful.” Again there was silence, so she sat still and listened to the silence.
What she heard was not a language she knew but the meaning was clear. It was ancient magic. Sounds she heard her grandmother say and her mother occasionally repeated in hushed tones for unknown reasons. Not many people could understand, not even her mother, but the longer she listened, the more she could understand.
She heard the trees discussing the ancient magic and old evils that existed and her family’s bond to protect the land. Curious she asked, “What are the old evils and why is her family responsible?” The trees seemed to yell at her. She was so scared she tried to stand up to leave but she was frozen.
Forced to listen, she learned about the history of humans, how they actually arrived here, and their devolution into a naturally destructive path of greed and dominance. She also learned how hers and and several other family’s battle against the humans resulted in a blood bond with nature. If these families lose this battle life as it is currently known will change. Nature consists of strong ancient magic. It will not lose!
Whenever I step onto a soft Upcycle tire ground on a new playground, Inam instantly taken back to the playgrounds I grew up on.
For starters, the ground was usually bare soil where children trampled the grass away, ugly green material that was supposed to mimic grass, or asphalt. I remember giant metal slides that would burn your exposed skin. We would bring a towel or some other cloth as a barrier. It also helped us slide faster. Slides today are much easier to slide down and not nearly as hot!
Instead of the bold, brightly colored jungle gyms with curves and sometimes rings to grab with little hands, we had simple, straight grey/silver ladder shaped monkey bars. Our swings were the traditional thick bendable strap secured on either side by chains. We would swing high and jump off mid air or sit on the seats and twist them sideways facing a friend and lace our legs through the friend’s seat, as they did the same to us. No dangling feet as a third and sometimes fourth person pushed us on the swings. The swings seem shorter today.
At one playground, there was a strange “swing”. It dangled from a thick wooden plank that jutted out from a climbing structure that had a slide attached on the other end. A brave child could lay on their stomach and crawl to the end of this extended wooden plank that held the “swing”, risking a serious fall.
This “swing” consisted of four very thick chains attached ti a metal gadget that seemed to rotate on a metal “ball” secured to the bottom of the wood by a metal cube shaped piece. The chains were secured at the bottom in what seemed to be a huge knot. We would sit on this knotted chain and twist in circles or have a friend push us in the same manner you would a typical swing, just less comfortable.
We also had metal “merry-go-rounds” also known as the “metal circle of death”. It was shaped like a merry-go-round, but it had metal hand rails that extended from the center to the edge. From above it would look like a pre-sliced pie. We would all grab a rail and run as fast as we could in one direction. Once we had enough momentum, we would begin jumping into the merry-go-round and ride until it began to slow down.
We had a lot of fun! Today’s playgrounds made me realize how dangerous some of our playgrounds were growing up. I wouldn’t change it, but I’m glad playgrounds are safer today.
The house was perfect. Everything Erica was looking for in a home. Security she never had growing up, physical space she couldn’t afford during college and her first six jobs, an inheritance, nor her first couple jobs as a professional engineer.
3000 sqft home, 4 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, living room, dining room, attic, basement, garage and 3 acres behind the house, complete with a beautiful 6 ft fence. A beautiful, walkable neighborhood with a good school district and nearby expressways. With a price of $280,000, it would be the perfect home to grow into, as soon as she found the right partner.
She’d kissed many frogs in her life, a couple who could’ve been good choices, but she was too focused on work and creating security.
Several months alone in the house passed before Robert, a past relationship helped fill the emptiness. Robert was curious about why the house was so affordable. Erica assumed the seller was in a rush to get into their retirement home in the Caribbean. She was not one to question luck after all of her hard work.
Robert was “the one who got away”. The difference this time was they reconnected when she had a patio designed and installed in her backyard. She enjoyed cooking so it included a full outdoor kitchen, grill, firepit, eating and lounge area. It turned out that the company with the best quote and reviews belonged to Robert. Robert was equally, if not more focused on work than Erica. They made their relationship a priority rather than an afterthought because they didn’t want to lose eachother again. It was difficult but worth the effort.
One day while at work, her security company called her cellphone because the system detected smoke and there was no response inside the home when they called. First responders were notified of a fire and were on there way. Erica called Robert but there was no response. She immediately left work and continued calling, in hopes that he was in a meeting and didn’t have his phone on him.
When she arrived at the house, it was taped off, she wasn’t allowed to go near it. There was a crowd of people outside watching in as much shock as Erica. She was even more shocked that she couldn’t reach Robert but his car was on the property.
Erica would learn that not only was Robert at the house but he had died of smoke inhalation. He was in his home office near a fire and waterproof safe she had not known about.
Once the investigation was complete, she learned the fire was not the first to occur on that property.
It was originally burned in the 1700’s by colonists who wanted to take over the space to start a new town. The original inhabitants were forced out or burned. It followed that for one reason or another over the centuries, a fire would occur on this specific location. The last happened just over a century ago. It was forgotten history. However, the new homeowners never lived in the house more than a few years.
Once the safe was returned to Erica, she learned what was so important to Robert that he would risk his life for that safe. His inquiry into the reason the house was sold for such a low price lead to more research. This was natural for him as a Historian. He’d learned that her family had originally owned that space before colonists burned it down. And a relative eventually would end up living there again and the house would burn, but the relative would survive. The previous owner had come across the repeated fires on the property, those records were in the safe and would explain the quick sale and silence about the issue.
The previous owner did not know about the genealogy related to the property, so chances are it wouldn’t have burned had they kept the home. Robert learned that the house burned whenever a relative lived in the home but were unaware of their supernatural abilities. They channel heat, used in healing, but whenever they aren’t balanced, healing people, their home burned.
Erica would have to learn how to channel her healing abilities and learn whatever else Robert hadn’t learned
