The Karma Pit

  Janey woke up on the ground. She slowly got up. She wasn't wearing anything, and her skin looked very pale. She felt neither warm nor cold - she felt very little of anything actually. She could smell sulfur in the air. The ground looked like a mixture of dirt and sand. The lighting was the most unusual thing. She could only see about 30 feet or so and it became darkness past that. As she walked around the light followed her almost like a spotlight was shining straight down on her. The darkness beyond her was tinged with red and in the distance, she could hear screams and crying and misery. "Am I dead and this is Hell?" she pondered in panic.  Then she heard muffled steps that were getting closer. Something else rapidly approached her. It had its own light shining down on it and the two zones of light intercepted each other. At this point she could see what it was. It was a demon of some sort. It was only about her size, and she stood about 5'5".  Regardless, it was very terrifying as it snarled and got closer. She screamed. Her scream was added to all of the other screams she heard. Suddenly there was a thunder of louder steps. I huge demon, perhaps ten feet tall jumped in and with its axe, backhanded the smaller demon. It was propelled out of sight with that one mighty blow. The larger demon now turned toward Janey. She screamed again hysterically. The huge demon, in a rather pleasant voice, said "do not be afraid, I will protect you.". It then turned around and squatted to the ground with its back turned towards her. She didn't know what to make of this. She sat to the ground and started crying. After a time, she dried her tears and looked around more. The demon in front of her indeed seemed friendly enough. She could again hear something approach from behind them. The large demon stood and circled around to where the sound came from. Out of the darkness another, smaller demon charged in. Again, it was swatted away by the large one.  After some time, when things had quieted down again, she heard heavy footsteps approach from their left side. Her guard demon got up and walked over to the left side. The darkness broke and another demon was then seen. It was as large as hers! Unexpectedly, her demon set his axe down while the other demon just walked past. It turned its enormous head and peered back at them for a second as it passed and then it was gone. Janey sat back to the ground.

  After what seemed like forever, Janey spoke up. "Where am I? Who are you? Why am I here?". The demon spoke back to her calmly and in a soothing voice. "I'm not positive where we are but it certainly resembles Hell. You may call me Bart. I have no idea why either one of us is here. What is your name?" She replied "Janey". The demon edged a little closer to her and she backed up a little. He said "trust me Janey, if I meant you harm, you would know by now. I will protect you until you are able to take care of yourself. I have never met a Janey before. The honor is all mine." as he bowed his head slightly. She asked, "what now?". He paused before answering "Now, we simply wait. Time here is difficult to judge, but we wait, perhaps a few days."

  In their time there Janey found that she never felt hunger or really anything that was actually physically unpleasant. Just the unending sounds of misery. Bart told her that she could certainly feel pain if one of the smaller demons got to her. They would do cruel and obscene things to her. She would not die from it since she is presumably already dead. She would simply suffer the assault for an undetermined amount of time. He told her that she would gradually change. "Into what?" she asked. "Into one of us".  

  As the time, perhaps days, passed, they talked more, and Janey slowly turned. She quizzed Bart more and more about everything he knew. At one point, the conversation turned.  "Why us?!? Why would God do this? What have I done to deserve this?!?" she asked. To this Bart replied "I really have no idea. I was only 8 years old when I came here. I have asked myself a thousand times what I did in life to deserve this. I have no idea. The last thing I remember is going on a trip. My mother was taking me to visit her brother, my uncle.". Janey said "all I remember is going to sleep in my bed and waking up here. I'm 15". Bart then said, "I do know this, if it is the nature of God to punish innocent children, then he is the worst kind of evil and I want no part of him". Suddenly the ground shook violently. The light above them spread out into a larger circle and everything around them was pushed away. A booming voice spoke, "Bartholomew! Your time has come!". The huge demon looked up and said, "I'm ready!" as he grasped his axe harder.  

  Bart looked around. He was in a cabin of some sort. He was a small child of 8 again. He looked around "are you here? God? Where are you?". The voice, now much less booming spoke up from thin air. "I am here. To answer your question, you were not placed there as a child. Being a child was simply your last memory. The last memory I allowed you. On that day, your mother dropped you off at your uncle's house. It wasn't for a visit. She signed custody over to him and you never saw her again. From there, the abuse started. Your uncle abused you for the next decade. Badly. Once you were an adult, you did the same things to others. Many of your victims continued that abuse in various ways in their lives. Janey was one of your last victims. She also became an abuser. To determine who you really are it was necessary to give you the power to choose for yourself. You have proven, that given that chance, you would choose goodness and empathy. In your time there you defended hundreds from abuse. To those victims, you redeemed yourself. For your redemption you need no longer stay there. This cabin was one place of refuge that as an adult you dreamed of being. You will stay here for a time. If all goes well, you will eventually have company and more around you. Even those who were once your victims may even choose to only remember your defense of them. Even THEY may choose to be part of your life." Bart was lost in awe and thought of it all, "and what of Janey? What will happen to her?". God responded, "If she is fundamentally good, then she will grow and become strong as you have. She will choose to defend the weak. If she is fundamentally evil, then her true nature will be revealed, and THERE she will stay. Enjoy your time now Bart. You are free!".

  Bart sat down at the lone table in the small cabin. He tried to absorb what was really happening. He only remembers 8 years of real life, and then.... and then.... it was fading. Had he really been in that awful place of sulfur and misery? Now .... here, in this cabin, alone? He got up and looked out the window. There was a large lake about 20 feet from the cabin. It was very calm and inviting. He could see fish occasionally jumping at bugs on the surface. He backed away from the window and looked around more. There on the wall, next to the small wood stove, were several fishing poles. On the floor were a couple tackle boxes. He looked back out the window and longed to know if he might catch something...

   There was a knock at the door. Bart was apprehensive. Who might be out here in the middle of nowhere? He was no longer a powerful demon, but instead a defenseless boy of eight. He cautiously opened it and peered outside.  There stood his mother. He didn't know how to respond. He was both happy and angry. He wanted to hug her, but instead, he asked: "Why?". She kneeled down and said, "I was dying of cancer Bart. I didn't want you to remember me that way. My brother vowed to raise you as his very own and I believed him. He is where he belongs now, and now, so are we." He hugged her very tightly for a long time. He felt they had a lot to talk about, but they had plenty of time. He wiped the tears from his eyes as they lit up. He couldn't contain himself anymore, and he had to say it.  "Let's go fishing!". She laughed and looked around at the place and then out the window. "Let's go Bart!".