I have made parallels to Dante’s adventure to make the style similar and to show that I understand and can interpret his writing. At the same time I have added a modern twist and my own creativity to make it my own.
Ivanoski 2
Descent to the Seventh Circle on the back of Nexnecis. The Seventh Circle and Third Ring: the Violent against Nature; each sitting near the river of fire, poisoned, hungry, and longing to be healthy. Nature strikes back in the Inferno.
I see a beast flying around whose face is that of a just man, but a torso of a lion and claws like a hawk with sharp daggers protruding from them as hands and feet. The body is covered with fur and the fur surrounds the manly face, like that of a lion.
My guide, Virgil, signals him to come to us. I want to ask why he wants such a creature to come near, but I must be brave and trust that my master knows the best way to get me through here. It swoops back and forth for a while, until he decides to lands before us, but as his feet hit the ground a shriek from the beast fills the air. The noise is not bearable for any living man, so I fall to the ground and cover my ears until the horrid sound stops. As I get off the ground I notice a large scar reaching from the right temple down across to the left side of his lips. So gracious are his features, the scar does not seem to match such a face. Virgil tells me looks can be very deceiving here.
“Now, Nexnecis take us into the pit, so that Dante may experience this ring in full.”
I believe my earthly weight caught the monster off guard, for it lost its balance when I climbed on his back.
Ivanoski 3
Once we landed in the pit I surveyed the land. The land seemed lush compared to the previous circles we have visited. My master pointed out to me a thriving tree with many fruits in the distance where a group of shades were huddled staring at the tree as if they were obsessed with it.
“Go see what state they are in.”
I approached the group and no one seemed to notice I was near. I moved a little closer and one man turned around. He seemed a little frightened as he said “What is a man of skin doing here?”
At first I noticed how emaciated his face looked and then saw that his skin that was draped over his bones was rotting. I came back to my senses and I told him what I was doing and then asked why they were looking at the tree so intently.
“We are so hungry! Everything in this Hell is poisonous. The water, fruit, plants, animals, and the bugs that bite us. We cannot escape nature from poisoning us.”
As he was talking, I noticed a nametag. It read: Lee Raymond, Exxon CEO.
He went on, “If we eat or drink anything, we suffer. But if we choose not to be poisoned then we are automatically choosing to starve, because there is no other option.”
I remembered hearing on the news that Mr. Raymond made the executive decision to deliberately dump toxic chemical waste in order to boost his company’s profits and increase the value of his own stock options.
Ivanoski 4
These people were getting exactly what they deserved. They destroyed nature on earth, so nature is destroying and torturing them for an eternity. As I was thinking this, I heard a buzzing noise getting louder and louder. A swarm of bugs came all of a sudden and attacked the group. There were mosquitoes, wasps, and ticks in a flock. They did not stay long; they were off to the next unsuspecting group. All they left behind was a group of people with red bumps all over their bodies back to starring at the fruit. This was the only event in their eternity that interrupted their feeling of hungriness.
After this occurred I heard Virgil calling me to come back to him. I was delighted to be back near my guide. I hoped our adventure would keep moving now. We walked away from this ring and the surroundings slowly faded back into grayness, mud, and darkness.
We walked for a while and then Virgil stopped me suddenly, “Halt, do not take another step.” I heard the sound of rocks falling. Luckily I responded fast enough, because once my eyes were focused from darkness I looked down and right in front of my feet was a steep, long drop to the next circle. I looked at Virgil.
The End.
