Wrath

Time was of essence, so we made our way back to the closet door. Charley opened up the door and as soon as he was about to take his first step through I grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Watch out, Charley! Don't you have any common sense in you? I don't want you ending up dead in a place like this. Look below you. You see that? That's the swampy, stinky waters of the river Styx. You could've fallen into that river and gotten stuck with the wrathful souls below. Now be patient. Our ferryman, Phlegyas, should be coming around any moment now."

I could feel Charley's heart racing. He knew quite well that his journey could've been cut short right there and what do you know? I just helped him escape death. That has to be like a paradox or something.

Several minutes passed, but sure enough our ferryman came to us. "Phlegyas, old friend, would you kindly take us aboard your boat and show us around the river Styx? I'm here to let Charley see the poor souls trapped in the circle of wrath."

He reluctantly agreed, so we stepped from one circle and into the next. The river of Styx resembled a swamp. The waters were pitch black with a forest of moss growing all around. It possessed a putrid smell that made even Charley cover his nose, but that did little because he ended up puking alongside the boat. As Phlegyas rowed the boat along the river, we could see the wrathful fight each other viciously on the surface of the muck. Below were the passively wrathful. They just sat back into the darkness of the river where no light could reach them. No happiness or joy.

As we made our way around the river, I recognized someone I met ages ago. It was none other than the infamous Nazi, Hitler. He was locked in a gruesome fight with a stranger I did not recognize. They exchanged many punches, slipped and fell onto the body of water many times, and wrestled each other to the point of exhaustion. Blood had now stained his uniform. This was the perfect person for Charley to meet. I signaled for our ferryman to stop the boat.

"Why did we stop?" asked Charley.

I told him, "This right here is Adolf Hitler. The man every Nazi worshiped and every Jew hated. He is wrath personified and the perfect person for you to meet first. Let us pull the boat up near him now for he looks to be tired out. Now settle down and hear him out." I turned to Hitler, "Tell us about your story, Adolf."

Hitler turned around with an irked face. He took a moment and looked at us. Up and down he went. When he was finished analyzing us he proceeded to board the boat. Then he opened his mouth and said, "So you wanna know my story, huh! Well listen here. I won't bore you with any of the details and I will get straight to the point. I was once a man with a heart capable of loving, but that was short lived. I served in the German Army during World War I, but there was just too much injustice when the war was won. My hatred and anger grew. It was like a fire. It burned with a passion. And with that hate, I wanted to eliminate the Jews and establish a New Order. I initiated the start of World War II and began one of the worst genocides in history. Now I have the blood of over six million Jews on my hands. Eventually, towards the end of the war, I knew my defeat was imminent, so I committed suicide with my wife. I took the revolver with a bullet in the chamber and stuffed it down my throat. I hesitated for a second as I looked to my wife with her cyanide pill in her hand. But I knew that if we were captured our torture would never end, so I pulled the trigger and my wife swallowed the pill. Now this is where I ended up. Stuck with a reminder of my suicide. Bound here for eternity. You can even see the bullet hole that went my skull. Look here!"

When Hitler finished speaking, he rushed off the boat to pick a fight with another wrathful soul. I turned to Charley and said, "Now you understand that hatred can't bring you good things. You must have a heart capable of loving and let nothing corrupt it. Adolf Hitler was one the worst people in history to embody the sin of wrath. Don't let this be you, Charley. Now let us keep rowing about and see who else we run into."

And so we went around the river some more and ran into a few interesting characters. There was this big green fella in purple shorts and no shirt for some odd reason. He kept yelling and made unnatural grunting noises. I couldn't understand a word he was saying and I bet Charley couldn't either. I can definitely see why he ended up in this circle... There was also this Korean dictator by the name of Kim Jong Un. Apparently, he also started a World War, like Hitler, by firing missiles against the United States. After hearing that, I can see that it didn't end well for him either. I wonder if he committed suicide like Hitler too?

I signaled for the ferryman to take us back to the closet door. I turned to Charley and said, "I believe we've talked to enough angry people today, don't you think? I hope that this little boat ride has taught you a thing or two. We're heading to our last, but not least, destination now. Prepare yourself for the circle of treachery."

Author's Note

In "Dante's Inferno," Dante and Virgil keep making their way down the Inferno after the first circle and eventually end up in the fifth circle, Wrath. They encounter Phlegyas who takes them onto his boat and ferries them across the river of Styx. Dante describes the river as swampy and stinky. They also encounter wrathful souls that fight each other over and over again. He also looks below him and sees that there are also wrathful souls buried beneath the surface of the slimy water. The duo don't really speak to any of the wrathful souls, but they do encounter three Furies and Medusa. This is later on in the circle once they get past the gates to the City of Dis. In my story, I opted out for the section about the city. Instead I wanted my duo to explore the river extensively and speak to the souls that fight endlessly among themselves. This is where Death and Charley stumble upon a dreadful and iconic figure from our history books. They encounter Adolf Hitler. He was the perfect person to be found in this circle of Hell. Others they encountered were the Incredible Hulk and Kim Jong Un. I chose these characters because they showed hatred towards the world, hence, why you would expect them to be in the circle of wrath.

Bibliography

Dante's Inferno translation by Tony Kline