Gates of Hell

Gates of Hell

by Damon Nomad

First Place in WDC Short Shots May 2024



          Phil bolted up. "Please. Spare our souls."
          "Are you okay?"
          It was Rita's voice and he felt a hand on his shoulder as she continued, "Bad dream, darling?"
          His heart raced as his eyes scanned the darkness. Am I really home? "How long have I been back?"
          Rita sighed. "Back from where?"
          "Motte al-kabrit." A low ridge and series of slot canyons in a remote desert.
          "Jordan?" She paused a moment. "Must've been a weird dream. You don't leave for another three days. Go back to sleep."
          He laid back down and took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He couldn't remember what it was that he had been dreaming. He was sure of the location, a remote spot on the map southeast of the Dead Sea. He would be there with two friends, fellow university faculty members, in less than a week. He shrugged it off as just a dream as he drifted off to sleep.
          ***
          A week later, Phil and Ned finished setting up the cabin tent while Larry unloaded gear and supplies from the four-wheel drive. Phil pulled the line taut and anchored it to a large rock. Stakes were useless in the desert. "Last one, Ned." He gestured at Larry. "Should we help him?"
          Ned plopped down in one of the camp chairs. "He's thirty years younger than me." He took a long drink from his water bottle. "Twenty younger than you. Let him finish up. I'll do the cooking."
          Hours later, the three of them were sitting around a campfire. The Jordanian desert could be quite chilly at night, even in the spring. They were nearly a hundred and forty miles southeast of Amman and fifty miles from the nearest road or village. The sky was full of stars on a moonless night.
          Phil poured Kentucky bourbon into his cup and waved at Ned and then Larry. "Top you off?"
          Larry nodded in agreement. "Sure."
          Ned waved a hand. "I'm good."
          Phil had known Ned for nearly twenty-five years and Larry for about nine. Ned was the chair of the Near East Studies department and Larry had made full tenure last year. Phil sat back down after giving Larry a refill. "Tomorrow will get to the spot and see it this was a waste of time."
          Larry got up and tossed another piece of wood onto the fire. "It's gonna be there." He sat back down and waved a hand at Phil. "You're gonna be a legend in Middle and Near East academics. Sodom is at Motte al-kabrit just like your research shows. Not Tall el-Hamman, Bab edh-Dhra, or the other spots everyone else has been pointing at for years."
          Phil took a sip of bourbon. "This is a team effort. It isn't about me."
          Larry shook his head. "I want my name on the expedition and discovery paper. But you spent what? Seven years researching this. You deserve the headlines." He gestured at Ned. "Right?"
          Ned stared at the fire for a few moments. "You're right about that. Phil has put a lot into this and deserves the credit." He raised his cup as he looked at Phil. "Cheers. It will be right there tomorrow, over that ridge and through the slot canyon."
          Phil had put a lot of himself into this, maybe too much. His father was losing a long fight against cancer. Days or weeks is what the doctors were saying now. He felt some pangs of guilt leaving for this trip. Rita said it was okay, but it didn't quite feel right. He felt a strange and uncomfortable sensation that he had been in this exact spot before, looking past the campfire towards the ridgeline as he sat with Ned and Larry. "Ned, you ever feel like this was a mistake? Searching for Sodom?"
          Ned was quiet for a few moments. "You thinking about the Siq-al Barad scroll?"
          "Yeah, partly."
          Larry leaned forward in his seat. "I'm not familiar with it. What's the relevance?"
          Phil gestured at Ned. "He translated it from Aramaic. Must be ten years ago."
          Ned took a slug of bourbon. "A supposed first-hand account of the destruction of Sodom. It is a horrific tale of someone spared death by God and given a warning for future generations. No man or woman should ever again come to Sodom."
          Ned's lips tightened into a frown as he quietly sighed. "Pass not through the gates of the city ruins or risk the fires of hell."
          His gaze fell back onto the campfire. "Yeah, sometimes I worry that we will discover what God has warned us to leave alone." After a few moments of silence, he stood up and stretched. "Time to call it a day. An early start in the morning to beat the heat."
          Larry finished off his drink. "You believe in that superstitious stuff? You think there's a hell? Fire and brimstone and all of that."
          Ned shrugged, "You're still a young man. Your views on faith may be different a few decades from now. I believe in an immortal soul, created by God. There is more to us than chemistry, biology, and physics. Science has no clear explanation for our conscious self-awareness." He paused a moment. "I also believe there is a source of evil beyond man."
          Ned waved at the younger man. "I don't know about heaven or hell, but I think your soul can spend an eternity in bliss or despair. Your soul is driven to one or the other because of your beliefs during your life. Something you can choose to believe or not. Consider the potential consequences of both options if you're wrong."
          Larry queried Phil, "What about you?"
          Phil paused as he finished off his bourbon. "I'm having second thoughts, myself. I'm not sure that the afterlife is just a fairy tale. Not anymore."
          ***
          They had been walking for nearly three hours as they came out of the shadows of the slot canyon. They stood staring, eyes blinking from the intense sun, and speechless for several moments.
          Larry was the first to speak, "Portions of the outer walls of the southern approach are still standing. That's remarkable." Large crumbling stone walls were on both sides of a wide path leading towards the entry gate.
          Ned waved a hand. "Situated exactly as you predicted Phil. No doubt about it. This is Sodom."
          Phil's eyes focused on the large opening of the gate, maybe forty feet high and fifteen feet wide. Two large columns were on each side of the entry portal in the partial ruins of the ancient city wall. It seemed surreal against the bright blue sky. He instinctively moved towards the stairs leading up to the gate as Larry and Ned followed behind.
          Ned called out, "Look, here. The wall to the left. Scorch marks."
          Larry moved closer to the wall. "There are faint shadows, like the outline of people burned into the rock." He paused for a moment. "Something bad did happen here. Something horrible."
          Phil nodded in agreement. "Like at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the intensity of the light of the nuclear firestorm burned images into concrete."
          He moved quickly up the stairs as Larry and Ned followed slowly behind. What will we find inside? The words of the scroll came to mind. He muttered aloud, "Pass not through the gate."
          He slowed down as he got to the last few steps. He could see mountains in the distance, but still could not see what was immediately on the other side of the large opening. Is there anything left of Sodom?
          His pulse quickened as he crept close to the gateway, no longer consciously aware of Larry and Ned behind him. He shuffled right up to the threshold but stopped short of crossing. A strong breeze kicked up a cloud of dust and he could not see for a few moments.
          As the dust passed, he could see the ruins of the city laid out in front of him. Something isn't right. It looked as if there was still smoke rising from smoldering ruins as if the city had just been destroyed hours or days ago, not millennia.
          Without thinking, he stepped through the gate. It was as if the ground on the other side had fallen away and he tumbled to the ground. As he opened his eyes, it was dark. He closed his eyes and opened them again, but it was still dark as night. He could smell sulfur and sense heat. He could hear the cries of people screaming in pain and terror. Smoke was causing him to wheeze and cough.
          High above, streaks of yellowish red moved across the dark sky. They grew in size as they raced downward towards where he was. Balls of fire from heaven. He was in the firestorm that destroyed Sodom. He closed his eyes and began to pray. The concussion of a fireball striking nearby caused him to cry out.
          He shouted as he bolted up, "Please! Spare our souls!"
          "Are you okay?"
          It was Rita's voice and he felt a hand on his shoulder as she continued, "Bad dream, darling?"
          His heart raced as his eyes scanned the darkness. Am I really home? "How long have I been back?"
          Rita sighed. "Back from where?"
          "Motte al-kabrit."
          "Jordan?" She paused a moment. "Must've been a weird dream. You don't leave for another three days. Go back to sleep."
          I remember this exact conversation. The last few minutes in Sodom were clear in his mind. He could still smell and taste the sulfur. That was no dream. He thought about what he should do next. I need to break the pattern. "Have you ever wondered about the nature of hell?"
          "You want to talk about this, now?"
          "Yeah."
          "It's not something that I've really thought about."
          "But you believe in God and an afterlife."
          She chuckled. "Fair point. I guess I hoped I was headed in the other direction. I just tease you about being agnostic." She kissed him on the forehead. "I love you regardless of your views on faith. You having a change of heart?"
          "I think so."
          She shifted her body closer and asked in a whisper, "You have a view of hell?"
          "I suspect it takes many forms. One that has occurred to me is a time loop. Your immortal soul lives the same few days of your life over and over. At first, it just feels like normal life. Every moment slowly becomes known before it happens as you loop through the same events. Driving you to an eternal madness as you realize your afterlife is an endless predictable repetition." He went quiet as he wondered how many times he had been to the gate in Jordan; three times, three hundred times? Some type of lesson or test from God before facing a similar fate for eternity?
          Rita rolled back over. "That does sound like hell. We need to get to sleep. Got a lot to do before you leave."
          "I'm going to cancel. I need to be here for Mom. It would be horrible for her if Dad passes and I'm not here. Larry and Ned will understand."
          Rita exhaled slowly. "Really? Honestly, I think it's the right thing to do." She paused a moment. "So many years of work and preparation. You can go next Spring."
          "I think I'll move on to something else."
          He was thankful that he had been given a peek at one possible hell and an opportunity to rethink his beliefs. If there is a hell, there must be a heaven. A deep serenity came over him as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and slowly let it out.





Word Count: 1980
Prompt: Write a story based on a picture.
Acknowledgment: A bit of inspiration from the movie Groundhog Day (1993)