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    At The Walls of Dis
    At The Walls of Dis
    At The Walls of Dis
    Ebook117 pages1 hour

    At The Walls of Dis

    By Charles Cloud

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    About this ebook

    This book contains four fictional pieces, each touching on some aspect of sin and our relationship with God. The first story deals with the painful issue of suicide. The second reflects on the problems of anger and resentment. The third envisions an attempt to renew the Catholic Church. The fourth is a short meditation on using our gifts.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCharles Cloud
    Release dateSep 1, 2017
    ISBN9781370246601
    At The Walls of Dis
    Author

    Charles Cloud

    I spent almost 25 years as a Catholic Christian pastor. After leaving ministry, I earned a Master of Science in Addiction Counseling and worked in that capacity for almost two years before health issues forced me to quit. I am currently on disability and spend my time writing or working around my home. Working in the yard has been a key means for me to maintain my mental health.

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      Book preview

      At The Walls of Dis - Charles Cloud

      Foreward

      In Dante Aligheri’s Divine Comedy, Dis is the citadel within hell. While many endure their punishment outside of the citadel, many others are punished within the citadel, in the very depths of hell. While the sins punished outside the walls of Dis may be less serious than those punished inside the walls, all sin offends the infinite God and is worthy of punishment. I have given the stories here the title At the Walls of Dis to point out that the behaviors described here may not all be serious, they betray attitudes contrary to the will of God.

      The stories in this book are unusual, some would even call them fantastical. They are not meant to be realistic, but rather to give you something to think about regarding our fallen human nature.

      The first tale, Sand, is a story about deceit and hurt. How far would you go to seek revenge, and what happens next?

      The second tale, Into the Dark, deals with the pain of suicide. What is the experience of the person planning to kill themselves, and what happens afterwards.

      The third item, entitled Regeneration, is what I call a piece of ‘hopeful fiction’. It offers a vision of how the Catholic Church could be renewed.

      Last but not least is a short item about judgement. I have named it The Precious Present.

      These are presented for your enjoyment, so my hope is that you will enjoy them.

      Charles Cloud

      SAND

      Sand Chapter 1

      That it was still sitting there after everything that had happened made no sense, but there it was. A simple glass jar sat on the bookcase in the TV room, when every other reminder of her marriage had long before been thrown away. On one particularly angry day, Misha had swept through the house with a garbage bag. Pictures, souvenirs, Jack’s dried out corsage, her silk garter, the crystal Husband and Wife champagne glasses, a conch shell found on the beach during their honeymoon, even a Hawaiian shirt, had all been thrown in the trash. How had the jar of sand managed to escape her attempt to remove every reminder of how badly she had been hurt during the few short months of her marriage. Seeing the jar of sand brought everything back in a rush.

      They were married on the beach at Honolulu, because that was where they met. Misha was beginning the vacation of a lifetime. After literally years of saving every extra penny, she’d finally saved enough for a vacation in paradise. Of course, she wasn’t staying on the beach, but that didn’t stop her from taking a long walk on beach the same night she arrived. It was a clear night, with only a light breeze and a quarter moon low over the water. Moonlight lit the waves as they broke far out from shore, and the damp sand was cool on her feet. With each step her tension eased and her worries melted away. Each wave, as it splashed against her feet, soothed her mind and calmed her soul. Hawaii was even better than she’d dreamed it would be.

      Jack was lying in the sand after an evening swim, and she almost tripped over him. Almost? When she put her foot down and felt not sand but skin, she lost her balance and fell to the ground next him.

      While she got over her shock and surprise, he continued talking.

      Now I know Hawaii is magical. I’ve never had a pretty girl fall for me before.

      My name’ s Jack. Well, John actually, but my friends call me Jack. I’m here for a convention of accountants, believe it or not. Nobody at the company believed me at first. Since when do accountants plan a convention in Hawaii? The fact is that we got a really smoking deal. Coming here was actually cheaper than having the convention in someplace like New York City or Chicago. I heard from somebody that they’ ve built too many hotels here in Honolulu and so they’ re just desperate for business. Anyway, I never would have come here on my own; I’ m much too careful with my money. But, since the company’ s paying for it, I. . .I’ m not boring you am I?

      Damn! You never get over junior high school, you know? I had no idea how to talk to pretty girls then, and I still don’ t. I’ m really sorry.

      Jack?

      Yeah.

      I think you’ re sweet.

      She wasn’t just being nice. She meant it. Jack’ s pathetic little speech had utterly charmed her. Blame the moon, or blame the waves, or just blame Hawaii. In only five minutes, she was already falling in love.

      Jack skipped most of the meetings of his Accountant’ s Convention and they spent the rest of the week together, almost every minute. As luck would have it, they lived only a few hours apart: Misha herself in Detroit and Jack in Cleveland. Even luckier was that both worked for the same company, Cineplex Odeon. Jack was an accountant in the corporate office, and Misha managed a theater.

      Before the week was over, they were talking seriously about Misha transferring to a theater in in Cleveland, so they could spend more time together. During the next three months, they spent almost every weekend together, either in Cleveland or Detroit. It took that long to arrange a transfer for Misha from Detroit to Cleveland. With that accomplished, they spent more than just weekends together: they lived together.

      In many ways, Jack still seemed to be the geek he claimed he’d been in high school. He seemed most animated when he was talking about accounts and tax shelters and similar topics. More than once she thought he cared more about numbers than he did about her. She knew it wasn’t true, and sometimes he could be so charming that he swept her off her feet all over again. One day, as they were wandering around in a mall, he took her by the hand and led her into a nearby jewelry store. Before the salesman even had a chance to speak, Jack dropped to one knee in front of her and called out,

      I want to buy the brightest diamond you have, because this woman is the light of my life!

      Despite her protests, Jack insisted on buying her a diamond tennis bracelet. When she protested that she had nothing nice enough to wear with a diamond bracelet, he grinned and said,

      Well, we’ll just have to take care of that!

      They spent the rest of that day shopping for an outfit good enough for a diamond tennis bracelet. When she suggested that this was behavior unfit for an accountant, Jack had to admit she was right.

      I feel as giddy as a school boy. I know that sounds really dumb, but I’m serious. You’ve turned my whole life upside down. I can hardly concentrate on my work, and it’s only a matter of time before I end up with a reprimand for slacking off.

      He must have been exaggerating, because a few weeks later he came home with a promotion: he was being sent out on the road to conduct the annual audits of individual theaters. In a way, he was now her supervisor, and they had a great laugh over that.

      Despite being her supervisor, when it came to planning their upcoming wedding, he deferred entirely to her wishes. Again, in behavior very unlike an accountant, he didn’t seem to care how much the wedding cost. As much as Misha hated to abuse his generosity, she was planning the wedding of her dreams.

      It had to be in Honolulu, of course, on the very stretch of beach where they met. Jack didn’t even seem to mind paying for some of her relatives to fly there for the ceremony. Misha would be picked up at their hotel by a carriage pulled by six white horses. Once at the beach, a temporary walkway would be built between the street and the white canopy situated at the high tide line. They were even able to hear the water splashing under the walkway whenever a particularly large wave came in. After the ceremony, they would move to a nearby ballroom which opened out on the same beach. Between the live

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