IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
ONE CROSSED OFF THE LIST
By; Gerald A. Polley
The Ancient One and his companions had been playing havoc in
Lebanon as the fighting there between Hezbollah and Israel raged.
Many a Hezbollah fighter who thought they were safe from any
harm, suddenly found themselves suffering a quick demise! They
had just about finished a good night's work when The Ancient One
heard someone call him.
"Father Of Fathers," the voice said, "Have mercy
on one you have destroyed forever and speak to him for a
moment."
The Ancient One stopped and his companions followed suit. From
out of the darkness came something twisted and grotesque. It had
once been a human being, but it was far from that now. It was
clothed in a tattered British Army uniform from a hundred years
before. The Ancient One smiled.
"Colonel Brickston, isn't it?"
The creature of Darkness shivered. "It amazes me," it
commented, "that you can remember all those that you have so
bitterly destroyed!"
"Oh, yes!" The Ancient One answered. "I remember
each and every one! You and your men had so much fun playing with
those little girls! None of them survived, did they?"
"No," the creature of Darkness answered, "they
were fortunate. You destroyed them immediately, forever. I
linger, waiting the fate that will eventually be mine. I have
never been able to leave this place. I know nothing of what
happened to my family. Would it be against your principles of
justice to tell me what happened to my daughter?" The
Ancient One thought a moment. "I suppose," he answered,
"that would not be an unreasonable kindness. Your daughter
remembered everything you had taught her very well. She lived a
miserable and bitter life, was very cruel to others. But
fortunately she chose a good husband, and he managed to undo most
of the harm that she did to others. So when she died she suffered
a while, but survived. And when he joined her in The Afterlife
they lived quite pleasantly together until they were reborn. They
are now children. They live in Iraq, not very far from here. I'm
sure you've heard about what's been happening to the children
there. Fortunately thusfar, they have escaped any harm. Your
grandchildren are all fine, upstanding people. Except for one who
is selling poison to children and had an unfortunate accident.
That's about all I can tell you. Your family has made out quite
well, and I believe will continue to make out quite well. They
didn't absorb your poison."
The creature of Darkness bowed. "Can you make a passage for
me?" it asked. "Can you end this torment I
suffer?"
"If it is your wish!" The Ancient One answered. He
waved his hand an a passage appeared into The Afterlife. The
creature of Darkness hesitated a moment, then gave a great cry
and rushed through the passage. He barely entered into The
Afterlife then he burst asunder. In moments his soul was totally
dissipated. The Ancient One closed the passage. "Perfect
ending to a great night's work!" he remarked. "One more
I can scratch from my list!" His male companion swung his ax
and leaped skyward. "That must be one long list!" he
screamed.
"It gets shorter every day!" The Ancient One answered
taking up pursuit.
His female companion stared into the collapsing passage and
muttered "That's gotta hurt! That's really gotta hurt!"
then took up pursuit of her friends.
THE END
**********
That's What Makes Them Heroes!
We are often asked how the heroes in our stories can be so bloodthirsty and uncaring, so merciless. Well we guess that's a point of view. To the people that they are protecting they would probably be considered Angels. To the people they're destroying they would probably be considered devils. It's all a matter of point of view. What's good to one is evil to another. This theme has been said over and over again. It's all how you look at it! To us our heroes are only doing the things that need to be done, only getting rid of those that need to be gotten rid of. Others would say they are interfering in things that are none of their business, and they should stay out of it. But that's the thing with heroes! You can't always get them to do what you want them to do! You might want them to destroy somebody else's evil children, but if your children are evil, you'd like them to look the other way. Unfortunately true heroes aren't going to do that. They're going to fight evil wherever they find it. That's what makes them heroes! That's what makes our heroes, anyway!