I picked him up at the airport Friday night at 9:00 and took him up to the cabin. He filled me in on
everything that had happened since his dealers started getting busted and how he had just gotten out of town in the nick
of time. He hadn't been back to Miami since I left and had spent all his money. He liked to live large and play the big shot.
I told him what I had been doing, studying the Bible and lying low, but he said he had been through his Jesus phase
and that wasn't for him. So instead of following my convictions, I let it drop. He wanted to know if I had anything to
get high on, and I told him I hadn't touched anything since I left Peoria. I didn't know anyone or anywhere to get drugs
in Boulder, so he wanted to know where to go to find some booze. I gave him directions and a hundred bucks and he headed
to town. He was back in an hour with four bottles of Jack Daniels, which he talked me into helping him finish before
the sun came up. After sleeping it off all the next day, he was ready to do it all over again that night. Well, not
really being a big drinker except for Scotch, which didn't leave me with a hangover, I told him he would have to do it
by himself, which seemed to hurt his feelings but not his desire.
I grabbed a blanket and went out to sit on the deck to watch the stars while he drank. I began getting sleepy but
decided to just stay on the deck. I dreamt I was walking down a country lane and came to a fork in the road. The right
fork led into the mountains and I could see a lake off in the distance; the left fork led into a city with bright neon
lights. I stopped to think about which way I should go. I thought if I went right, I'd just get lost in the mountains
and probably starve to death, but if I went left I could go into that city and find food and shelter and probably
have a good time. Knowing my instinct to have a good time was wrong I turned towards the mountain road. As I started
to walk, a woman's voice called out to me from the other road.
"Hey good looking, you should come this way and we'll have some fun. There's nothing that way."
She was probably right, so I turned towards the city and went towards her.
"Now you're talking," she said. "I've got lots of friends in town, and they all like to have a good time-especially
with a hunk like you."
She took my hand and we walked towards town.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"You're in the city of Helios," she said. "The city that never sleeps and everything is free."
"I've never heard of Helios. Where is it located?"
"Oh, it's not on any map," she said. "It's a place made especially for those who love to spend their life having fun."
"You say everything is free; how does that work? How do the store owners make a living and pay for the stuff they
give away free?"
"The boss furnishes everything. All we have to do is come to the temple once a day."
"Come to the temple once a day? Why do we have to go to the temple once a day?"
"To worship the boss, silly, what do you think you go to a temple for?"
What have I got myself into, I thought. This is the strangest dream I've ever had. I'd better go and see this
boss, so I asked the girl to take me to the temple.
"Sure," she said, "we have to walk right past it when we get to town. But it's not time to worship yet. He may
not be there."
"That's ok; just take me to it, please. I'd like to meet this boss who gives everything away, and I'd like to know
who I'm worshipping."
As we neared the city, I could hear loud noises; people laughing and screaming, music blaring from everywhere with
no rhyme or reason-it all just sounded like a lot of confusion.
As we entered the city, there was a large dome-shaped building on our right. She said, "There's the temple. You go
on in and I'll wait for you, but don't take too long."
I opened the double doors and walked in and there was no one in sight. There was just a long hallway of doors with
names I couldn't read. I walked down the hallway and came to a gigantic open room. On the far end was a stage with a
throne on it. It looked like it was made of gold with ornaments that looked half human and half animal. I walked closer
to get a better look. That's when the stench hit me. It was the foulest smell I had ever smelled. I looked around me to
see what it was. There was blood everywhere, and I could feel the bottom of my shoes sticking to the floor from all the
blood.
"This is wrong!" I said to myself. "I've got to get out of here, now!"
"What have we here?" I heard a deep voice say. "Looks like a newcomer."
I looked up at the throne, and there he was. He looked somewhat like a man, only much larger. He was about ten
feet tall with a very large, muscular body and the head of a snake-the evilest snake you could imagine. My body started
to tremble and my legs got weak.
"Have you come to worship me?"
Through trembling lips I asked, "Who are you?"
"I am God the creator," he said. "Have you come to worship me?"
I was so scared and trembling so much I couldn't speak, which was a good thing because my mind was telling me this was
Satan himself.
"Speak, you weak fool!" he said. "Have you come to worship me?"
I knew if I did I would be his forever, so I finally got the words out. "I can't worship you because you are Satan."
"Then you will die!" he said as he leaped from the stage and landed right in front of me. With a claw for a hand,
he reached into my chest and tore out my heart.
I woke up screaming, sweat pouring off of me. James opened the sliding bay door and said, "Mark, what's wrong?"
I realized I was still screaming and stopped. I looked at him and said, "Wow, what a dream that was. I don't think
I'll ever go to sleep again."
