The Demonic Gospel
I wrote the ruff draft of this story on about twenty little napkins at some shabby little dive bar. I had forgotten about it until a few days later when I was going through my laundry, looking for money to by cigarettes. I cleaned it up a little, hope you enjoy it
What is sanity, but a lone voice calling out in a sea of madness?
After all... True loneliness is the profound revelation that you are indeed sane... It's everyone else, drowning in this sea of madness...
Forsaken sons of God! Come gather around and warm your bones by the blaze I have set for you.
Crawl out from behind the shadows. Fear not its warm glow... Yes... That's right. The light will not harm, nor corrupt you. Now close your wicked eyes and listen with your crooked hearts for I have ventured far beyond this world of darkness and dare reveal to thee the knowledge I have gained.
From beyond the depths of this valley of shadows, I climbed. A spawn defecting from hell I wished to see what lied beyond. I wished to leave the familiar far behind. The pain, the torment, the screams of terror that rip through these dark hollows. Even if only for a time...
Oh, what strange lands I did see.... At first, blinding colors of blue and green forced me to divert my eyes. But I dared persist to see.... The bright yellow moon in the sky. I wondered the lush, fertile lands and gazed its mysterious landscape. I swore this land was virgin, and yearning to be touched.
I had found comfort upon a stone and rested. My ears heard neither screams nor sobs. No mercy to be begged for.... Just the tranquil baffle of a creek. And a sound I had never heard before. A song perhaps, but I could make no melody of it. I searched around for its source. I soon realized it was as if a thousand voices, each in song were gathering upon a mighty steeple.
There... Upon the tallest mountain in the horizon. So tall, that the clouds caressed its nipple. Consumed with curiosity, I dared to concur this mountain... Challenge its rocky terrain and climb higher than ever before... And if I should fall? I would embrace my morbid fate.
The trek was long..... Many miles. And with many mishaps. Countless times, I found myself helplessly lingering from a sharp ledge or a gnarly root. So careless were my missteps that I once pondered, letting go... Fall gracefully into the naked arms of this virgin land and let her dry, thirsty stones below, drink my blood... But why give in so easily? I gripped the root as if it were a lock of her hair, and dug my hooves into her side. Then with all my might, I pulled myself up to where I could grab a sturdy ledge.
As the air grew thin and frigid, I knew my quest was at its end... The terrain had plateaued and I could climb to farther... I looked out and saw many hills and valleys. But no mountain as tall as the one I had climbed. There is an ancient word, that describes how I felt... I believe it was... Bliss.
It was for but a moment... Then I heard an all familiar sound. The sound of gentle weeping. I turned to find its origin. There upon a ledge, sat an angle. With her face laying into her hands, she sat quietly sobbing, unaware of my presence. As I studied her, I discovered an injury upon her wing. It had then occurred to me, I had only climbed as high as and angle could fall.
As I ventured closer, she soon realized that she was not without company. She turned to look and was horrified by the sight of me. She asked, timidly," Am I in hell?" "Funny you should ask," I replied, "For a moment there I thought maybe I had climbed to heaven." She failed to see the humor... She turned away from me. I could tell she was still repulsed by the sight of me. "If this is not hell, then where are we?" "Somewhere in between, I suppose. I am but a stranger to this land, and come from that place you speak of."
I quietly sat down beside her. I thought I could end her suffering... I could push her from this ledge and watch this delicate, porcelain figurine shatter like crystal upon the rocks below. Although the thought delighted me at first, I began to feel some kind of empathy for her. Her weeping stirred something deep within... I did not understand this at first but soon realized... These are not the tears of guilt and shame, helplessly begging for mercy... These are tears of innocents...
I looked again upon her injury... The bone had penetrated out from the flesh. The surrounding feathers where stained with blood. It was an injury that I would have been proud of. So many times, I have inflicted such injuries... Then reset them and waited for them to heel. Only to just keep breaking them, over and over again... Funny... It just never seemed to get boring.
Perhaps it was my newfound empathy for this creature... I do not know. But I felt compelled.
I carefully gripped her wing with both hands, and set the bone back in place. She gasped in momentary discomfort, but did not protest. I focused on the injury while holding the broken bone firmly in place. Soon I could see the bone slowly healing back together. Then came the flesh. That seemed to be taking a little longer.
Perhaps I was just too weak after the climb, or angles were just harder to heel. But once I got the bleeding to stop, I decided I must retire. "It should heel the rest of the way by mourning," I told her. She cautiously flexed her wings and was delighted to discover that she could move them with little pain... "Why have you done this?" She asked me. "So I could enjoy breaking both of them later," I replied.
I didn't mean to be nasty... I just felt a little weird. I quickly stood up and walked over to the other side. I felt uneasy... Demons don't commit acts of kindness. They destroy, torment, and torcher... I stared down at the rocks below and wondered how long of a fall it was... What kind of death would it be...? To fall helplessly... To crash upon these rocks.
I was tempting myself to find out, when her voice interrupted me. "Why has our father forsaken you?" I looked at her puzzled and asked, "How old are you?" "Three thousand." "No wonder." I said, "God and Lucifer had a little disagreement... Everyone took sides." "Do you fear him?" She asked. "No." "But, he will destroy you." "And that is salvation," I said, "We can never be permitted to re-enter into heaven. Our souls are stained, and cannot be forgiven. Therefore we only dream of death"
She gazed at the ground disheartened. "Do not take pity on me," I said, "You can never take away the things you have done, or the things you've seen... They will haunt you for the rest of your days. Dose this knowledge not make death seem like salvation?" "Then why do you do it?" she asked. "A hammer is forged to drive nails, and blades are sharpened to shed blood. They know there purpose buy the fires and tools they were forged from. They need not ask."
At last... there was silence... But it was short lived... She was terribly persistent and I couldn't help but rethink my earlier notion to push her off the cliff. "Maybe death is not your salvation," she stated.
"But maybe... A new life... One without memory of the former?" "A new life? As what?" I asked. "I don't know. What would you want to be?" A wide smile stretched across her face as she restated," If you could come back as anything you wanted to be, what would it be?"
I admit I was dumbfounded by such a silly question. I sat down upon the edge and pondered that question for some time. As I sat, I once again heard the songs that compelled me to climb this mountain. I looked up and saw these tiny creatures. They flew about so effortlessly. Each had their own melody. "What are these creatures?" I asked, chuckling. "There sparrows!" She replied. "Sparrows," I whispered to myself. Excitedly, I stood up and announced," Sparrows!! That is what I wish to be!"
"Then a sparrow you shall be..." She replied. I turned to find her smiling back at me. The sun was setting behind her as its rays shinned through her hair. "I must return home now." She said. "Your wing? What about your wing?" I replied. "What about it?" She flexed her wings and I saw that they were perfectly heeled. Or so I assumed at first. For then I noticed... No blood... Her feathers were stained with it. I looked at her bewildered.
"You too, must return and wait... Soon, I will return to this mountain and bare salvation beyond death..." She turned to face the setting sun. And descended to the sky...
I climbed down from that mountain with little worry of misstep. Then back to the valley of darkness..... Back to you, my sons of God. To tell you that we are not forsaken...
Rest now, angles of darkness. Be still... And close your tired eyes...
Perhaps in another life we will sing as the sparrows do... but tonight... we dream.
FIN.
After all... True loneliness is the profound revelation that you are indeed sane... It's everyone else, drowning in this sea of madness...
Forsaken sons of God! Come gather around and warm your bones by the blaze I have set for you.
Crawl out from behind the shadows. Fear not its warm glow... Yes... That's right. The light will not harm, nor corrupt you. Now close your wicked eyes and listen with your crooked hearts for I have ventured far beyond this world of darkness and dare reveal to thee the knowledge I have gained.
From beyond the depths of this valley of shadows, I climbed. A spawn defecting from hell I wished to see what lied beyond. I wished to leave the familiar far behind. The pain, the torment, the screams of terror that rip through these dark hollows. Even if only for a time...
Oh, what strange lands I did see.... At first, blinding colors of blue and green forced me to divert my eyes. But I dared persist to see.... The bright yellow moon in the sky. I wondered the lush, fertile lands and gazed its mysterious landscape. I swore this land was virgin, and yearning to be touched.
I had found comfort upon a stone and rested. My ears heard neither screams nor sobs. No mercy to be begged for.... Just the tranquil baffle of a creek. And a sound I had never heard before. A song perhaps, but I could make no melody of it. I searched around for its source. I soon realized it was as if a thousand voices, each in song were gathering upon a mighty steeple.
There... Upon the tallest mountain in the horizon. So tall, that the clouds caressed its nipple. Consumed with curiosity, I dared to concur this mountain... Challenge its rocky terrain and climb higher than ever before... And if I should fall? I would embrace my morbid fate.
The trek was long..... Many miles. And with many mishaps. Countless times, I found myself helplessly lingering from a sharp ledge or a gnarly root. So careless were my missteps that I once pondered, letting go... Fall gracefully into the naked arms of this virgin land and let her dry, thirsty stones below, drink my blood... But why give in so easily? I gripped the root as if it were a lock of her hair, and dug my hooves into her side. Then with all my might, I pulled myself up to where I could grab a sturdy ledge.
As the air grew thin and frigid, I knew my quest was at its end... The terrain had plateaued and I could climb to farther... I looked out and saw many hills and valleys. But no mountain as tall as the one I had climbed. There is an ancient word, that describes how I felt... I believe it was... Bliss.
It was for but a moment... Then I heard an all familiar sound. The sound of gentle weeping. I turned to find its origin. There upon a ledge, sat an angle. With her face laying into her hands, she sat quietly sobbing, unaware of my presence. As I studied her, I discovered an injury upon her wing. It had then occurred to me, I had only climbed as high as and angle could fall.
As I ventured closer, she soon realized that she was not without company. She turned to look and was horrified by the sight of me. She asked, timidly," Am I in hell?" "Funny you should ask," I replied, "For a moment there I thought maybe I had climbed to heaven." She failed to see the humor... She turned away from me. I could tell she was still repulsed by the sight of me. "If this is not hell, then where are we?" "Somewhere in between, I suppose. I am but a stranger to this land, and come from that place you speak of."
I quietly sat down beside her. I thought I could end her suffering... I could push her from this ledge and watch this delicate, porcelain figurine shatter like crystal upon the rocks below. Although the thought delighted me at first, I began to feel some kind of empathy for her. Her weeping stirred something deep within... I did not understand this at first but soon realized... These are not the tears of guilt and shame, helplessly begging for mercy... These are tears of innocents...
I looked again upon her injury... The bone had penetrated out from the flesh. The surrounding feathers where stained with blood. It was an injury that I would have been proud of. So many times, I have inflicted such injuries... Then reset them and waited for them to heel. Only to just keep breaking them, over and over again... Funny... It just never seemed to get boring.
Perhaps it was my newfound empathy for this creature... I do not know. But I felt compelled.
I carefully gripped her wing with both hands, and set the bone back in place. She gasped in momentary discomfort, but did not protest. I focused on the injury while holding the broken bone firmly in place. Soon I could see the bone slowly healing back together. Then came the flesh. That seemed to be taking a little longer.
Perhaps I was just too weak after the climb, or angles were just harder to heel. But once I got the bleeding to stop, I decided I must retire. "It should heel the rest of the way by mourning," I told her. She cautiously flexed her wings and was delighted to discover that she could move them with little pain... "Why have you done this?" She asked me. "So I could enjoy breaking both of them later," I replied.
I didn't mean to be nasty... I just felt a little weird. I quickly stood up and walked over to the other side. I felt uneasy... Demons don't commit acts of kindness. They destroy, torment, and torcher... I stared down at the rocks below and wondered how long of a fall it was... What kind of death would it be...? To fall helplessly... To crash upon these rocks.
I was tempting myself to find out, when her voice interrupted me. "Why has our father forsaken you?" I looked at her puzzled and asked, "How old are you?" "Three thousand." "No wonder." I said, "God and Lucifer had a little disagreement... Everyone took sides." "Do you fear him?" She asked. "No." "But, he will destroy you." "And that is salvation," I said, "We can never be permitted to re-enter into heaven. Our souls are stained, and cannot be forgiven. Therefore we only dream of death"
She gazed at the ground disheartened. "Do not take pity on me," I said, "You can never take away the things you have done, or the things you've seen... They will haunt you for the rest of your days. Dose this knowledge not make death seem like salvation?" "Then why do you do it?" she asked. "A hammer is forged to drive nails, and blades are sharpened to shed blood. They know there purpose buy the fires and tools they were forged from. They need not ask."
At last... there was silence... But it was short lived... She was terribly persistent and I couldn't help but rethink my earlier notion to push her off the cliff. "Maybe death is not your salvation," she stated.
"But maybe... A new life... One without memory of the former?" "A new life? As what?" I asked. "I don't know. What would you want to be?" A wide smile stretched across her face as she restated," If you could come back as anything you wanted to be, what would it be?"
I admit I was dumbfounded by such a silly question. I sat down upon the edge and pondered that question for some time. As I sat, I once again heard the songs that compelled me to climb this mountain. I looked up and saw these tiny creatures. They flew about so effortlessly. Each had their own melody. "What are these creatures?" I asked, chuckling. "There sparrows!" She replied. "Sparrows," I whispered to myself. Excitedly, I stood up and announced," Sparrows!! That is what I wish to be!"
"Then a sparrow you shall be..." She replied. I turned to find her smiling back at me. The sun was setting behind her as its rays shinned through her hair. "I must return home now." She said. "Your wing? What about your wing?" I replied. "What about it?" She flexed her wings and I saw that they were perfectly heeled. Or so I assumed at first. For then I noticed... No blood... Her feathers were stained with it. I looked at her bewildered.
"You too, must return and wait... Soon, I will return to this mountain and bare salvation beyond death..." She turned to face the setting sun. And descended to the sky...
I climbed down from that mountain with little worry of misstep. Then back to the valley of darkness..... Back to you, my sons of God. To tell you that we are not forsaken...
Rest now, angles of darkness. Be still... And close your tired eyes...
Perhaps in another life we will sing as the sparrows do... but tonight... we dream.
FIN.
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