Damned

I was in the middle of a really long dream when it happened. I wasn’t expecting it and, frankly, I thought it would be different. I really regret everything now. Everything I said and everything I did, I wish I could take back and live a different life.

I was sleeping in my bed when they came for me. I expected them to look a lot different. I thought they would be white and have beautiful smiles and wings. What I was seeing now was very frightening. They looked reptilian and all I could sense was hate. It’s too late now; they are taking me to someplace I don’t want to go. I can tell it’s not a good place.

First they put chains on me and I was screaming for them to take them off but they wouldn’t. They laughed at me and they mocked me. They hit me over and over again until my skin fell off. I couldn’t look them in the eyes because it caused a feeling so bad, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

They took me to a dark place that had a smell that was so foul, like rotting corpses. They threw me in a cell and told me I will never leave here. I could hear screams from other people and I felt the terror would never end.

This sounds like a movie or a video game, but this is eternity for me. I knew this is what I deserved. I had many sins in my life and now, in my death, I would pay for them. If only someone would pay that debt for me and I could be released from this torment.

I remember before, when I was back on Earth, there was somebody, I don’t remember his name. I seem to remember he wanted to pay for me. That’s all so blurry now. I remember my family telling me about him. I wish I could ask them now but they’re not here. I thought I was a good person and definitely good enough for Heaven. I hated a few people but I didn’t kill anybody. Now I see sin is all the same.

I see some people I know here, some church people, but I can’t talk to them. They had good lives. I wanted to be like them. I tried. Now I am like them and I wish I weren’t. I wish I could go back. There’s no escaping this. Now when I look at them, I can see everything that they did. It’s like we all know each other sins without saying them.

I don’t remember my kids’ names. All I remember is they’re going to do this to me every day. It’s the same thing every day. Beat me until my skin falls off and then we start again the next day. They bite me with their sharp teeth and the pain is excruciating. I’m so thirsty and I’m so tired, but there’s no rest for me. I wish someone would save me.

Damned. That’s all I will know forever.

From the writer: My late mother in law heard the screams of a dying man asking creatures not to put chains on him. She relayed the true account to me. The rest of the story, of course, is fictional. The story is based loosely on accounts I’ve heard from people with near death experiences. I don’t want those chains for you and I hope that, if you’re not completely sold on Jesus, you will repent today.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

John 3:16

It’s not too late for you, friend. God wants to have a relationship with you. He’s not interested in you being religious; He just wants your heart. Ask him to forgive your sins and tell Him you want to know Him too.