Heaven and hell(Kiara) One night, a strange man came to take me on a journey. Normally I would have disagreed to participate, I mean, who wouldn’t? If a small man with wild red hair and dark flashing eyes suddenly appears in your bedroom and offers his hand to you and tells you that he has a journey planned out to change your life, you wouldn’t exactly go would you? But there was something about this man, something dark, sinister, telling you that you had no choice but to obey. I can still remember that night as clearly as I remember my name…

I took his hand, hoping for the best, when a dark red-ish mist surrounded us, blocking everything from view. After a minute or two, the mist cleared, and I found myself standing on a paved path, wide enough for a car to fit on. As the mist had stung my eyes, I could not see very clearly and I closed my eyes for a minute to clear the bright shapes that were dancing around in my head. No sooner had I opened them, I found myself standing in front of a huge set of doors, engraved with orange-red flames. Suddenly I had a chilling feeling. I don’t think I was here for a joy-ride. I looked at the man standing next to me and almost had a heart attack! This was no man! This was a creature that made my blood run cold. Black scales covered the warped body, torn wings sprouted from the arms and red glowing eyes bore into my skull. ‘W-what are you?’ I asked trembling. But the creature did not reply. Instead he raised his hand and scratched his nails against the wooden door. Almost immediately the door opened, causing a torrent of ice cold air to sting my face. Cautiously I advanced into the room, wondering what horrors I would see. And what I saw was every book-lovers hell. There were rows and rows of long wooden tables which each held half a dozen books. These books were open, as far as I could see, but the people standing behind the tables made no move to read them. Proceeding forward I realized that these people were attached against a concrete wall, unable to move or turn the pages of the books as if some mysterious force was holding them back. All around me I could hear groans and sighs as many of them tried to break free to turn the page of the book that was in front of them, but with no prevail. I shuddered. This was probably the worst hell anybody could think of. Imagine having to read the same page of the same book over and over again, without being able to turn the page or discover what’s waiting for you in the next chapters. I turned around and pleaded with the creature, “Please take me home! I cannot stand another minute of this! Please!” The creature slowly turned towards me, dragging his eyes away from the moaning figures and whispered, “Not yet.”

Again the mist surrounded me, but this time the colour was a soft baby-blue which swirled around me in beautiful patterns. I opened my eyes, now seeing a small narrow path, overgrown with shrubs and thorns. And I knew this time I would have to walk. Not surprisingly, I was right. Walking through that path was no easy task but I managed to reach the end of the path without any major injuries. When I approached the door, I saw that it was engraved with blue clouds. These clouds each had a word engraved in them and I read them all out to form a sentence: ‘Life is a book waiting to be read’. I looked around, expecting the creature to appear and open the doors again, but instead I found an angelic figure smiling at me. Before I could say a word the doors in front of me opened to cast a soft warm glow around me. I smiled; somehow I knew that I would like this part of the journey. I walked into the light, feeling a sensation of warmth and happiness spread over me. I knew this was the part of the journey I would enjoy. I couldn’t see anything on account of the light, but after a few seconds the light cleared and I found myself in a vast room filled with rows and rows of books on wooden tables exactly like the previous room. But the difference was that all the people in this room were moving around freely. I watched in awe as they read and finished the books, and then re-appeared with an entirely different one! There was something about this place, something that made me want to stay forever. The gay laughter and bright smiles that often erupted onto a person’s face as he or she read the book made me upset to leave. But I know that one day, I might come here. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to find that the man who had first appeared in my bedroom was back. “It’s time to leave.” He said to me. I followed him out onto the path again and closed my eyes, readying myself for the red mist which I knew would appear again.

I opened my eyes, finding myself alone in the comfort of my bed. Telling myself that it was just a dream, I drifted into sleep, but deep down I knew, I had just visited heaven and hell.

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