The ground is loose and made of sand. Thunder sounds
from
all around, rolling away through the dark clouds overhead.
Lightening
crashes down from above, illuminating the barren land. A lone man
stands
where the lightening had licked the ground but mere seconds
before. He
was tall and shrouded in black. Long golden hair rolled over his
shoulders and down his back to tickle the top of a set of giant
wings.
The wings were tattered; the scorched bottoms dragged the ground,
leaving
blood and feathers behind as he walked. Here stood the fallen
angel
Lucifer, his former glory clinging desperately to his shadow.
"Welcome to the beginning of your tour through
Hell.
I hope my entrance didn't frighten you. Right now we are standing
in
the barren wasteland that I have created inside of your mind. It
is
here, in your mind, where we will go on the tour. Don't worry, there
will be no harmful side effects and the outside world thinks that you
are merely sleeping. This is the only way for a living person to go
through Hell without losing their soul. Now then, we are about to
begin the descent into Hell. Everything you
see, hear, feel- it's all real. This is Hell as it truly
exists. Take in
as much as you can. Off we go."
The world turns black. There is howling far
off in
the distance accompanying a small pin-prick of white light. As
the
light draws closer it begins to dull and turn gray. It suddenly
flares
and encompasses all.
The light faded to reveal what looked like a crowded
street. There were
men, women, and children stumbling around. Everybody was so
vastly
different: some tall, some short, some from ancient Greece, and some
from modern America, but everyone had the same look of deep sadness and
regret. There were some people howling in misery while others sat
on
the ground weeping silently to themselves.
"Look at these people. See how they
suffer and
know that their suffering has nothing to do with me. Strange
isn't it
that the suffering in the First Circle is not of my hand. Their
suffering comes from the knowledge that the only thing they did wrong
was not being baptized. That was it, that was all they did, or
well,
didn't do. Some of the greatest minds dwell here in Limbo: Homer,
Horace, and Ovid. Virgil also resides here. He was the poet
who led
Dante through Hell. Ah, look, there he is. Why don't we go
over there
and talk to him?"
Standing alone by himself was a lone man advanced in
age. He stood at the edge of Limbo looking down into the abyss of
Hell.
Looking up, he stared solemnly at Lucifer. "Ah, and so the Father of
Lies approaches. A tour?"
"Yes, a tour. Inspired by Dante's poem of you
leading him through Hell on his own tour. I thought it might set
the
mood of things if you were to be the first person we talked to.
What do
you say, will you tell us a story?"
"A story? Yes, a story, I know the perfect
one. I
will tell you the story of when the great one, Jesus, came down to our
miserable home. He came down here in all his glory. He came
to see us
who had sinned by not being baptized. It was a day many of us
will
never forget for it was the day that souls actually left Hell.
They
were blessed right in front of us. Then they rose with him out of
this
place of pain and sorrow. With him he took our first father Adam,
his
son Abel, he took Noah and Moses, Abraham, King David, Jacob and Issac,
his children, and his wife Rachel. Others of lesser
note
were also blessed that day. For the first time, hope filled the
eyes of
the miserable souls who resided here. Never before had anyone
left
Hell, never before had anyone been saved from the agony of this
place. We, who were left here, wait for him to return to save us
from our own
ignorance. I fear that day may never come, but still I wait with
an ounce
of hope in my weary heart. When you leave, take with you the
memory of
our pain."
Virgil turned away, deep mourning in his eyes.
His
head was downcast and it was clear that he would talk no more.
Lucifer
walked towards the edge of the First Circle and looked down. "That is
the story of this circle. Let us move along. We have so
much more in
store for you to see and learn."
Once again blackness encompasses all.
Author's Note: Hello all and thank you for reading
my first story. This is the story of Limbo, the first stop on the
tour
through hell. In Dante's poem he really doesn't explain too much
of what
Limbo looks like so I took some liberties in describing it. Not
many
but a few. I mostly took liberties in that the souls who resided
there were able to
look
over the edge and stare down at the other circles of Hell.
In my story I added a small secondary introduction
at the beginning.
This was to give you more of a visual experience and greater insight
into my stories. I plan to do a small introduction for all of my
stories so I would appreciate some feedback on what you think of them
and if they help you to feel more a part of the story.
Lastly, I had originally intended for this to be
humorous but it just
didn't happen. I wanted the journey to have a more light-hearted
feel
to it. As I was writing I began to realize that, at least with
this
particular circle, something humorous was not going to happen. I
simply
could
find no way to make it humorous. Perhaps I will be able to find a
way
to make the next circle a bit humorous.
Original Text Link: Inferno Canto IV:1-63 The First Circle: Limbo:The
Heathens
Bibliography: Dante Alghieri, the Inferno, early 14th century.
wikipedia, search: the Inferno
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Image Info: The First Circle of Hell Web Source: WineIndustryInsight