Welcome to Hell
1
I remember seeing God last time. It was years ago, before my coming of age. He came to visit for an inspection. I was a little shy back then. I would hide behind my dad’s leg and he would pat my head in a bored manner. God sat on my dad’s favorite chair. My dad sat on the second best chair. Dad served since the servants weren’t able to see God. He gave me water. Water is the cleanest drink we can make. God loves water, since he made it. God takes small sips while dad practically drowns in the water. I don’t let one drop inside me. God said, “Come here, Hyde.”
My dad gives me a little shove. I had no choice but to let God touch me. He picked me up and sat me on his lap. I squirmed from his firm hold. “It’s nice having kids.”
“It is.”
“Don’t interrupt me. Now, where was I? When my own children disappeared, I had nothing to lose. The world was going to end. But then I met a wonderful woman. She was human. And delicious. I wooed her to bed and we created 6 children. Right after the sixth, I ate her. Remember? I gave you one child. That child was infected by you. It is your fault one of my children became a sinner.”
I watched as my dad started shaking. “I have more Normals and Regulars on the High-Tops than you from the Lower-Bottoms. They are getting less food. Would you mind giving us more? After all, you stole a child from me. And you are hogging all the food.”
“Yes. I’ll order it immediately.”
“Well, I’m leaving then. It was nice seeing you again Hyde.”
He patted me on my shoulder. I jumped off him. My dad saw him goodbye. I remember when God exited and the gates closed, my dad started weeping. I patted him. “Okay, dad. Lets go back.”
I whisper in her hear. “You’re really loud.”
“Shut up! I’m not that loud,” she says before two guards look at us strangely.
“This is boring.”
“Fine.”
Xanthe leaves the rock and I follow. We walk to my place. She stops walking, so I stop walking. “What now?”
“It just that…they were in pain. Can’t we see them in their natural form?”
“Umm, no. My dad will get angry.”
“Please!”
I look at Xanthe. Her orange eyes were begging. “All right. Just don’t make a mess.”
We head a different route. She doesn’t expect a hellhound sitting in front of a maze in ruins. Zion is a large hellhound with brown fur and black tuffs. His eyes were black pools no human can turn away from. He didn’t often drooled but when I forget to feed him, his saliva would overfill in his mouth. He wasn’t drooling right now. Zion ran to me. “Good Zion,” I call to him.
I hop on top of him and Xanthe cautiously climbs on. Zion takes us to a fountain. It had clean water streaming out of it, into a puddle. A small angel was stoned on top of it. I hop off Zion and carefully lift Xanthe off him. She immediately runs to the fountain. “So how does it work?”
“Turn around?”
“Why?”
“It’s a family secret.”
She turns around. Keeping an eye on her, I pull the key off Zion’s collar. I kneel in front of the fountain and dip the key in the water. Circles appear in the water and they take away the key from my hand. “Okay,” I call to Xanthe.
She turn around. “Wow,” comes out of her mouth as the fountain sinks into the ground.
It leaves a large puddle. Zion lies down next to us. He is waiting. We lean close to the water and see something I didn’t expect.
Crowds of people were sitting around a bear, they were cheering. The bear was on top of a unicycle. A man was beside the bear. I’ve seen many people since my dad works mostly on them. But I’ve only seen bears on picture books, though this bear was taller than the man. I also didn’t expect the bear to be on a moving vehicle. Xanthe squealed in delight. “Look at all those people! They look so chewy, though I’ll probably throw them up if I eat them.”
I didn’t take my eyes off the bear. “The bear is on a unicycle.”
“So what? The people! Can we touch them, right?”
“We can’t. Dad says Lilith won’t let me.”
“Too bad for you.”
She stands up, ready to jump. I pull her back and she falls. “What’s your problem?” she yells at me.
As he picks herself up I try to explain things to her. “No Regular can survive more than 5 seconds on Earth. That’s why Regulars sometimes are using people’s skins.”
She makes a disgusted face. “I wouldn’t be able to even be inside one of those things. I can’t stand their smell. That’s why I eat artificial.”
“I know you do. Remember? I’ve known you since you were a baby.”
“Hey, I wasn’t considered a baby.”
“Though you acted like one.”
I remember where we are: a place where strange people hang out. “Let’s go before someone catches us.”
While Xanthe turns to Zion I get the key back. I watch the circles disappear. The fountain rises back to its full length. Xanthe calls me to hurry up. I turn to her and she smiles at me from up top. Xanthe is beautiful with her flame colored hair and chocolate colored eyes. Her smiles bring me with happiness when they seem the most happy. Her boyish attitude gives me self confidence. She is a true friend, the ones that are very difficult to find.
My dad gives me a little shove. I had no choice but to let God touch me. He picked me up and sat me on his lap. I squirmed from his firm hold. “It’s nice having kids.”
“It is.”
“Don’t interrupt me. Now, where was I? When my own children disappeared, I had nothing to lose. The world was going to end. But then I met a wonderful woman. She was human. And delicious. I wooed her to bed and we created 6 children. Right after the sixth, I ate her. Remember? I gave you one child. That child was infected by you. It is your fault one of my children became a sinner.”
I watched as my dad started shaking. “I have more Normals and Regulars on the High-Tops than you from the Lower-Bottoms. They are getting less food. Would you mind giving us more? After all, you stole a child from me. And you are hogging all the food.”
“Yes. I’ll order it immediately.”
“Well, I’m leaving then. It was nice seeing you again Hyde.”
He patted me on my shoulder. I jumped off him. My dad saw him goodbye. I remember when God exited and the gates closed, my dad started weeping. I patted him. “Okay, dad. Lets go back.”
I whisper in her hear. “You’re really loud.”
“Shut up! I’m not that loud,” she says before two guards look at us strangely.
“This is boring.”
“Fine.”
Xanthe leaves the rock and I follow. We walk to my place. She stops walking, so I stop walking. “What now?”
“It just that…they were in pain. Can’t we see them in their natural form?”
“Umm, no. My dad will get angry.”
“Please!”
I look at Xanthe. Her orange eyes were begging. “All right. Just don’t make a mess.”
We head a different route. She doesn’t expect a hellhound sitting in front of a maze in ruins. Zion is a large hellhound with brown fur and black tuffs. His eyes were black pools no human can turn away from. He didn’t often drooled but when I forget to feed him, his saliva would overfill in his mouth. He wasn’t drooling right now. Zion ran to me. “Good Zion,” I call to him.
I hop on top of him and Xanthe cautiously climbs on. Zion takes us to a fountain. It had clean water streaming out of it, into a puddle. A small angel was stoned on top of it. I hop off Zion and carefully lift Xanthe off him. She immediately runs to the fountain. “So how does it work?”
“Turn around?”
“Why?”
“It’s a family secret.”
She turns around. Keeping an eye on her, I pull the key off Zion’s collar. I kneel in front of the fountain and dip the key in the water. Circles appear in the water and they take away the key from my hand. “Okay,” I call to Xanthe.
She turn around. “Wow,” comes out of her mouth as the fountain sinks into the ground.
It leaves a large puddle. Zion lies down next to us. He is waiting. We lean close to the water and see something I didn’t expect.
Crowds of people were sitting around a bear, they were cheering. The bear was on top of a unicycle. A man was beside the bear. I’ve seen many people since my dad works mostly on them. But I’ve only seen bears on picture books, though this bear was taller than the man. I also didn’t expect the bear to be on a moving vehicle. Xanthe squealed in delight. “Look at all those people! They look so chewy, though I’ll probably throw them up if I eat them.”
I didn’t take my eyes off the bear. “The bear is on a unicycle.”
“So what? The people! Can we touch them, right?”
“We can’t. Dad says Lilith won’t let me.”
“Too bad for you.”
She stands up, ready to jump. I pull her back and she falls. “What’s your problem?” she yells at me.
As he picks herself up I try to explain things to her. “No Regular can survive more than 5 seconds on Earth. That’s why Regulars sometimes are using people’s skins.”
She makes a disgusted face. “I wouldn’t be able to even be inside one of those things. I can’t stand their smell. That’s why I eat artificial.”
“I know you do. Remember? I’ve known you since you were a baby.”
“Hey, I wasn’t considered a baby.”
“Though you acted like one.”
I remember where we are: a place where strange people hang out. “Let’s go before someone catches us.”
While Xanthe turns to Zion I get the key back. I watch the circles disappear. The fountain rises back to its full length. Xanthe calls me to hurry up. I turn to her and she smiles at me from up top. Xanthe is beautiful with her flame colored hair and chocolate colored eyes. Her smiles bring me with happiness when they seem the most happy. Her boyish attitude gives me self confidence. She is a true friend, the ones that are very difficult to find.