Wrath
You hear the whisper, "Wake up."
Startled, you realize you had fallen asleep in your car in your garage. The car is still running. Work sucked today. But then again, it always sucks.
You step out of your car, dragging your feet as you reach the door to your house. That's when you hear something odd: silence. Your wife, Laura, is home. So are your kids, Carter and Susan. Where is all the noise?
You open the door and walk into the living room to find the kids sitting down on the couch with their heads down. When you come in, they look up and you notice them staring at you. They aren't saying a word and look scared. Something is up.
"Okay, you both have five seconds to tell me what happened right now," you blurt out at them.
Carter looks up at you and softly says, "It was an accident, daddy - please don't lash out at us."
You say much louder and deeper, "What the hell happened? You are going to tell me right now or you bet your ass I'll lash out at you."
They both get up. As they lead you through the hall you look to your left to see your wife, Laura, fishing leaves out of the pool in the backyard. The pool has been weird lately and has changed color to a dark, grey, murky water.
You get to the door of your office, and as your children try holding you back from getting in, you fling open the door to find your worst nightmare. You see Susan's volcano school project exploded all over your office.
You see the mess of mud and red food dye all over your client's papers. It is all over your computer screen. It is all over everything you care about. You feel rage building up, flowing through your veins. Your body becomes hot, your heart starts to pound, your mind races to all the other times these little brats ruined your day. None of them respect the work you put in every work day. Your wife always defends them when they damn well deserve an ass-kicking. Everyone in this family is trapping you. They have no idea what it is like to have to go to a job you hate every day working on people you don't care about and coming home to kids that just want and want and want. You feel like you are losing control of your life. But now you are taking it back. Nobody gets to control this situation but you.
You scream at your kids, "Do you two ever give me an ounce of thought before you go and ruin everything I'm trying to do for this family!? Let's see how you brats like it!"
You run upstairs and start ripping up their toys. You take Susan's diary and take it to the kitchen. You look across to the living room where the kids are behind the couch staring at you in fear with tears streaming down their faces.
"How does it feel to watch something you care about get ruined?" you yell at Susan as you show her the diary that you lit on fire with the gas stove. "Here, I'll go put it out for you," you say as you run outside and toss it into the pool.
"Don't bother fishing that out, honey - those little brats deserve it."
Your wife replies, "Dan, they are just kids. They were in your office setting it up to surprise you when you got home. Can't you just forgive them?"
You scream at the top of your lungs, "Nobody is on my side! I hate everyone!"
You punch Laura in the stomach and grab her by the neck. She grabs at your arm trying to stop you but the rage has taken over completely. Suddenly, Carter runs up from behind you with a baseball bat and hits your back as hard as he can. Your body gives out as you plunge into the swimming pool.
You hit the dark blue, grey water. It sends shock through your whole body. You feel paralyzed. Did the bat disable you? No, it is your rage that is disabling. Your brain feels like it's on fire. Your hands are shaking. It feels as if steam should be shooting out your ears. You want to let it out, but you can't. You are so filled with rage that you have lost the ability to express it. You stay frozen in this state for what feels like an eternity before you finally come to the surface for air.
You look around and realize your family is gone. Still filled with rage, you also now realize how deserted you are. And your rage is directed inward instead of out. You realize that you have driven every meaningful relationship out of your life. Your employees hate you, your family is scared of you, and you cast our your parents a long time ago.
"It only gets worse from here, you know," you hear from behind you. "Your wife and kids will soon leave you, your wife will happily remarry, and your kids will grow to be successful and not need you anymore. You'll lose everything, and then lose your mind."
You turn and see Virgil and another man on a boat in the pool. Before you can reply, Virgil waves his hand and you are once again transformed back to your old self.
"Whoa," you let out with a sigh, "that was intense."
Virgil says, "Traveler, this is Phlegyas, the man who ferried Dante across the river of Styx. He will help me bring you to your next experience. We don't have much time."
"I'm getting tired though. This is getting really intense. I'm not sure if I'm ready for murder yet," you reply.
Virgil smiles, "You have been so brave and strong. Please, come to your last experience and you will find the experience greatly rewarding. Meet Ben, 35 years old. Wandering around Yellowstone national park, he looks for his first murder victim. He has been planning and glorifying this night for years, and it has finally come."
Author's note:
As previously mentioned, These stories are inspired by the writings of Dante Alighieri in the Inferno part of his epic poem Divine Comedy. Specifically, this story is inspired by his mentioning of the fifth circle of hell, Wrath. In this circle, Dante is shown the river of Styx, a river within mythology often used as a symbol of the separation of the Earth and the Underworld. The Styx river's color is described "darker than a dark blue-grey" and contains souls of the wrathful. The souls at the surface of the river fight with each other in an active rage whereas the souls beneath the water sullenly gurgle in their rage, unable to express themselves because they are choked with anger. I wanted to bring this story to life by placing it into a more modern context, showing the hell that one can create for themselves by being wrathful, and keeping the symbolism in the original story alive. The father that is portrayed here is a prime example of the types of wrathful people that can be commonly found in the modern world. The mud from the exploded volcano keeps the muddy imagery of the fifth circle of Dante's hell alive. The murky pool that the father falls into toward the end of the story and that Virgil and Phlegyas are sailing on is symbolic of the Styx river. An emphasis on the father's thoughts and feelings was made to express the hell of a psychology he develops when he succumbs to his rage. This train of thought he experiences makes him hate everything, even himself. It also isolates him from everything and everyone good in his life.
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