I awaken to find myself in hell. I'm not sure how I got here or how long I have been here. There are no clocks in hell, clocks provide hope and if there's hope, there's a reason to fight back, a reason to try to escape. The purpose of hell is to keep you trapped for all of eternity. To keep you believing that there is no escape, that there is no hope, that there is nothing else. With no clocks, it is impossible to gauge any length of time in this place. Have I been here decades, centuries, or perhaps a billion years? I have no way of knowing; all that I know is I don't like it here. Being that I am in hell it is pretty evident that I don't want to be here. Part of the trick that hell plays on you is to convince you that you do in fact want to be here and that you are here through your own free will. I spent my time in hell convincing myself that I chose to be here, that I wanted to be here, that I deserved to be here. Now I am awake from my illusions, I know I need to get out.
First thing I do is look around, I need a plan, I need an escape route. I look for others as to form an alliance, strength in numbers and all. I am surrounded by countless others, but I seem to be unable to converse with them. I can understand the words that others are saying but it's as if everyone is speaking gibberish. I spend an indefinable amount of time making any attempt I can to communicate with anyone that I possibly can. I finally conclude that everyone is sleepwalking and talking in their sleep which is why I can't communicate with anyone. I do manage to find one who seems to be awake. Someone I can communicate with, someone who understands me and that I can also understand. We make a plan together to escape. We have no idea how yet, but we know we will be free of this place someday.
We dream about the day we will be free from this place. We talk about all the exciting things we will do, all the interesting people we will meet, and all the peace and joy we will experience. We are clueless as to what could be outside of hell, we don't care, we just know we want out. I promise my new friend that if I find a way out on my own that I will come back for them. I promise my companion that I will never leave them behind. We start our seemingly endless journey of finding an escape route. Hell seems to be better now that I have a friend. I'm no longer alone, I'm no longer cut off. I feel invincible now that I am not alone. I know that I will escape and that I will help to save my friend also. I know that I will leave this place.
After some time, I manage to find a mounted telescope that looks through a portal into another world. My first glimpse of hope. I excitedly share this telescope with my friend. I devote all of my time, looking through the telescope into this other world. I spend countless hours studying the people I see through the telescope. These people all appear to be awake and coherent in their speech. It's as if they are somehow speaking to me through this portal and giving me instructions on how to escape. The catch is, even though they can speak to me, I am unable to communicate with them. I soon discover that I don't need to communicate with them since they are aware of everything I do and every thought that I have. They say that they have also been in hell, they say that we all start in hell and only the bravest, strongest, and most resilient escape. They explain that I have to be the one to escape, they can't get me out, I have to do it on my own, but they will guide me and help me in any way they can. They will give me instructions, but they won't make sense to me since they are coming from another world in which I have no knowledge of. It's up to me to learn the langue of the new world and translate the instructions. I share all of this with my friend, and I notice that my friend doesn't seem as enthusiastic as I, but I can't fault them, we are in hell after all. Being in hell is quite exhausting.
I devote all of my time and energy studying and learning this new langue of the other world. I listen to countless stories from these people in the other world. I hear stories of how they escaped, I hear stories of what it's like to be outside of hell, and I hear stories of what it will be like when I escape. I try sharing this news with my friend who appears to be enthusiastic for me but who shows no interest in looking through the telescope or doing any of the work themselves. I decide that I don't mind, I know I am getting out, I know I am going to escape, I know that I would be doing the same thing even if I was all alone. I can do all the work, find the way out, and bring them with me. I reach a point in my studies where I want to wake others up in hell so they can escape too, I very quickly realize that no one actually wants to wake up. They went into their dream state as a way of coping with being in hell, they find it easier to remain dreaming that they aren't here. It's so much easier to pretend then to face the reality of the situation. That's not for me anymore, I am done dreaming, I am done ignoring the reality of my situation in hell, and I am getting out.
One day a golden ladder appears, it's a very long ladder and at the top of the ladder is a bright golden light. Down here in hell everything is just a dim, grayish, red color. The light at the top of the ladder is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, so far. I did it, I finally found the way out, I am overcome with excitement and emotion. I excitedly tell my friend, but they say they don't care about the ladder or leaving hell. I can't believe my ears, why would anyone choose to stay here, why would anyone want this? I decide to stay so I can convince my friend to leave, I share all of the beauty that is beyond this place that I have learned of and all the peace that will encompass them and all the joy that will surround them. It seems as if there is nothing I can say or do to persuade them. I even try to forcefully drag my friend to the ladder all the while they are scratching and clawing at me. I keep reassuring them that I am doing this for them, I keep reassuring them that it will all be ok, all they have to do is trust me. My friend just keeps fighting. The harder I try, the more they fight back.
I try reasoning with my friend, I try explanations, I try logic, I try motivation, I try anything I can think of to get me friend to join me. I don't want to leave them, I made a promise to bring them with me when I found a way out, I can't leave without them, I won't leave without them. I decide to stay in hell, I decide to never give up hope that I could persuade them to join me someday. All the while my friend keeps promising me, that we will leave together and that they are in fact my friend. I keep believing them and ignoring the fact that they refuse to leave. They were my only companion in hell, how could I possibly abandon my only friend?
I wait, and I wait, and I wait for my friend to be ready to leave. The waiting becomes a new form of hell in of itself. The knowledge of another world, the hope of leaving hell someday, and the ladder to freedom are all in front of me. I begin to wish I had never learned of another world; I begin to wish I could just go back to the dream state and forget everything I had learned. One of the things I learned is that there is no going back to the dream state, there is no forgetting. Once you awaken in hell, you have two choices, remain in hell while awake, knowing that is another world out there, or Leave. Those are the choices. Eventually I tell my friend that I will not wait forever for them, that eventually I will leave them behind. I waste countless more centuries as they promise me that they will want to leave someday, I just need to give them more time.
I can't take it anymore. I tell my friend that I can't wait any longer and that I need to leave with or without them. They can choose to come, or they can choose to stay. As I start to climb the ladder, my friend starts attacking me and tries to pull me down saying "don't leave me, you can't leave me, you're being so selfish." I tell my friend that I don't care, I need to get out because if I stay, I will lose myself and remain trapped in hell forever. My friend tells me they don't care if I stay trapped in hell and reiterate that I am just being selfish. Despite what my friend says, I know that I have given them every opportunity to leave with me, and that they are in fact choosing to stay. I have no choice but to leave. I say goodbye to my friend, and I start climbing the ladder. The whole way up the ladder, I can hear my friend screaming at me about how selfish I am. I am unable to look back; I just keep climbing while looking up at the light.
When I reach the top of the ladder, I decide to take one last look back into hell. Now that I am covered in the light from above, I can see clearly into the darkness. I look at the bottom of the ladder and I see Satan looking up at me from the bottom of the ladder. Satan just looks up at me with this evil grin in his eyes. I realize in that moment, that I never had a friend. There are no friends in hell. I never questioned why I was only ever to communicate with only one person in hell. I just blindly trusted them and believed that they were my friend. I just assumed that no one would ever choose to stay in hell. I never considered the fact that my friend could actually be Satan himself and that Satan doesn't actually want to leave hell. Satan chooses to live in hell for that is his home. Satan manipulates and confuses his "friends" in order to get them to stay. Satan gives false hope as a last-ditch effort of trying to destroy any real hope that remains. The truth is that even though Satan chooses to be in hell, he doesn't actually want to be alone in hell, so he will do anything he can to get people to stay. Once someone decides to leave hell, there is nothing Satan can do, and he knows it. All Satan can do is delay the inevitable so that is what he does. Torture up until the very last possible second.
I turn away from Satan and from hell and look into the light above me; I take the last step on the ladder, and I pull myself up into the new world. I have no idea what awaits me, all I know is I am free from my prison, I am free from the chains that bound me, and I am free from hell. So long Satan, maybe someday you'll decide to leave hell to, but I'm honestly not counting on it. It's no longer my cross to bear. I am free. Love and Peace!