Meeting
The spring sun shines gently down on the newly budded trees which line the road. At first glance the street seems to be deserted, but upon closer inspection one finds a solitary figure leaning against one of the larger trees in it's shadow. He appears to be waiting for someone, for he periodically checks his watch, and shifts from foot to foot while watching the road. As time passes and the sun rises higher in the sky the shadow in which he is standing gradually begins to shrink. When the edge of the shadow reaches the tips of his polished shoes a figure appears on the road some ways off. Seeing the figure in the distance the man pushes himself away from the tree with his shoulders and begins to walk towards the approaching figure. When the figure becomes visible it turns out to be a teenaged girl with a plaid skirti and a white polo shirt. The man seeing this halts in his tracks and stares. When the girl is no more than four feet away she too stops walking. Tilting her head to one side she looks him up and down before speaking.
"You look different than I thought," she said with a trace of laughter in her voice.
"Being dead for so many years can do that to you," the man replies sarcasm dripping from every syllable. Raising one eyebrow the girl merely nods and then continues walking past the man, who turns and follows her. "Where are we going?" the man asks jogging to catch up to the girl who stops walking and turns to address him.
"You are Dante, right?" the girl asks eyeing him.
"Of course, I am. Who else would I be?" Dante answers indignantly.
"I was told that in order for you to write your new book you need to be taken on a journey through the contemporary netherworlds. I am assigned the task of taking you through one of those infernos, and was told to meet you here, which I did. So if you would like to continue…" the girl recites patiently.
"That's right, and yes, we can continue, but where is this Hell? And…" Dante begins but is cut off by his guide;
" The Hell is further along this road, and I will explain everything about it once we arrive. Now, if you would just follow me we can proceed before I hand you over to your next guide. " When she finishes speaking the girl once again turns and leads Dante further down the road which gradually becomes more and more rugged. After an hour or so they reach a fork in the road, at which they once again stop. Dante looks at his guide expectantly and she regards him with dispassionate emotion.
"On which road would you go Dante?" she asks gesturing first to the left then to the right.
"I would take the right, for although the left is straight and clear, it is also dry and threatening. The right is serpentine and overgrown, but that means that things that live there are nourished. ii" Dante answers reaching out to touch one of the plants growing on his right.
"Your choice speaks volumes of the quality of your soul," states the girl pushing his hand away before his fingers even graze a leaf. "You have chosen the path of righteousness, but the path we must take is the path of iniquity. You must not venture up the path of righteousness before we go this path of iniquity, for if the residents of Hell smell the honor of Godiii they will destroy you as you stand in their midst. For they will know you do not belong among them." As she finishes speaking the girl begins moving towards the path on the left, looking over her shoulder to make sure Dante is following her. In deadly quiet they proceed down the path, the girl in the lead and Dante close on her heels. When they had been walking for several hours a large brick building surrounded by trees and flowers comes into view at the left side of the road. The girl turns toward the building and proceeds to walk up its long serpentine driveway. Upon seeing this Dante breaks the oppressive silence with an exclamation of surprise while hurrying along after his guide.
"This most assuredly does not look like the Hell I would have imagined in the future. There are flowers and birds here. This does not look like the type of place where people would be punished for all eternity." Dante sputters gesturing all around him wildly.
"Appearances can be deceiving. To an untrained eye, this might look like one of the most peaceful places on the earth, but deep within, it can be rotten to the core." The girl answers and pauses in the middle of the driveway. Thoughtfully she looks about until she sees a lone apple tree several feet away. She crosses to it and picks one of the applesiv on the lower branches and then beckons over Dante, "For example," the girl continues holding out the apple in the palm of her hand, "without touching it tell me about this apple."
"What?" replies Dante confusion washing over his face.
"Just do it," replies the girl.
"Well it is red, and shiny, it looks nice and juicy, and it is rather big." Dante replies sighing.
"Exactly, but without touching it, or experiencing it, you can't know what it's really like," answers the girl as she takes a pocket knife from the pocket of her skirt and slices the apple open to reveal the rotten and worm-filled inside. "You see?" she finishes throwing the destroyed apple as far away from them as she can and then starts up the driveway once again. Dante stands still pondering this logic and then follows the girl up the driveway, which despite looking like a long twisting path, takes them only a second to walk.v
There is complete silence as the girl approaches the front door of the building with Dante following curiously. When they reach the door the girl reaches out and pulls the door open gesturing for Dante to proceed ahead of her. The hallway they enter is narrow and dark, in the distance a single flickering light is seen through the frosted glass of a wooden door. Slowly the girl leads Dante towards the beckoning light and the first stage of Hell.
i Plaid skirt: This is a well-known part of a catholic/private school-girls uniform. Catholic/Privet schools have a reputation of teaching their students to be good people, and good analytical thinkers (or people who use reason). Having the guide in this outfit is trying to say that Dante is being led by a force of good and reason.
ii I would take the right… are nourished: Refers to the fact that with the love and grace of God life is possible and likely to flourish in a good way. Also refers to the right being the right hand of God (or the 'good side').
iii Honor of God: the plants are made by his own hands, and contain his pure grace.
iv Apple: most widely known as the forbidden fruit of Eden.
v looking like a…only second to walk: Evil, or more specifically the devil is known for illusions and tricks. The road is an example of one such illusion. The road to God is supposed to be hard to travel, winding, etc, and the path to Hell easier to travel and more straight. This winding road is an attempt by evil to trick lost souls into believing that they are heading to God, when in fact they are heading to the devil.