Scourge of Sheol: a Novella

By Erin M. McDermott

In the near future, an incurable plague has infiltrated every city in the world and the mind of every victim it meets . . . every mind, aside from that of Mr. Abram, a wealthy business magnate in Manhattan.

Mr. Abram witnessed the scourge first hand when his beloved wife fell ill before him. First, sight is turned black, then hallucinations, then with every misstep the patient takes in the dark of her mind, comes a new form of blood-letting, bone-dissolving torture. Finally, if the disease is not put on hold through induced coma, comes death.

In spite of his apparent immunity and the mountains of wealth he heaped into research for a cure, no patient on earth has yet been led to survival.

It’s not until Mr. Abram’s son also falls victim to the disease that he learns just how far his research endowments have gone. A virtual reality environment, Sheol, was created to aid and guide the patient interacting with the disease – a disease which can itself think. There is a possibility to save his boy, but the method will test the limits of a son’s faith through fear, and a father’s love through sacrifice.

What are the bounds of the love of a father for his son, and will it be enough to save him? Will it be enough to save the world in this Christian allegory?

• Language: English
• Publisher: spirestarter
• Release date: Feb 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370989775

Erin M. McDermott

Erin M. McDermott was born and raised in Rochester, New York, and has resided around the globe—from Chicago to Germany to Ireland and Asia, among other locales. She is an accomplished scientist, engineer, artist, and writer, and holds a B.S. degree in applied physics from Kettering University. Her first published work of science fiction is the novella Scourge of Sheol. Future works will also illustrate and combine the unique perspectives she gained through her studies in physics, language, cultures and religion. While she continues to travel, New York City is currently her home base.

Book preview

Scourge of Sheol: a Novella

By Erin M. McDermott

Cover art by Dave Egly.

Theology editing by Christian Mendell.

Awesomeness editing by Andrew Hjelmhaug.

Copyright © 2017 by Spire Starter LLC

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:

http://www.ErinMMcDermott.com

Preface

*Spoiler Alert!* If you wish to maximize surprise levels, read this preface last.

I was hoping very much not to have to write a preface to this piece. However, in light of these times and the sounds of George Orwell rolling over, and over, and over again in his grave, keeping me awake at night, I decided in its favor. The prospect that Scourge of Sheol would be one day held up as an illustration of its exact opposite meaning terrifies me. I will, therefore, make myself painfully clear, in spite of what I believe to be obvious content.

This story started as a (slightly) simplified analogy. It was my answer when friends would confide they found it difficult to believe God exists and cares about us when He allows so many bad things to happen. I tried to create a scenario in which my friends might also make a caring decision that could make them look like a monster if the full truth was not understood.

I asked my friends to imagine they had a young son who was very sick and would die if not treated. In the situation, the only way to treat this little boy was to walk him through the agonizing stages of the disease in a dream-like state. Every symptom, cut, pain, and scar he suffered in the dream would be cured. None of it would carry over to the boy’s real body when he awoke. Consequences in the dreamland were different. However, if my friends chose to wake the boy, the child would suffer the same symptoms of the disease for real, and the disease would maim and then kill him in real life.

What would you do? Would you wake the boy and let him die? Or, would you keep the boy asleep in a less-real reality to keep him safe and unharmed in actuality?

My friends would answer they would, of course, keep the boy asleep and save him. And then I ask, "Would you keep him in dreamland to suffer even if the boy were able to call out to you? What if he asked why you would let such a terrible thing happen to him? What if he cried out screaming in pain and blamed you for it? What if he accused you of not loving him? Would you wake him up then? Or would you keep him under to save him because you do love him?"

As with so many things, deeper understanding requires a deeper knowledge of context. Your imaginary son in the example only saw the context of his immediate situation. He could not conceive of a reality in which you could allow him to suffer and at the same time, still love him and want what’s best for him. Fortunately, the context for our own human suffering is explained. It’s explained in the Old Testament. The unfortunate thing is that that part of the bible is even more vaguely understood by the general population than the New Testament.

To think of it another way, scientists also come across seemingly incompatible facts. The difference is, when it happens to them, they usually crack open a bottle of champagne because it means they just found a clue about the bigger reality we’re still learning about. If a physicist has real and good data that doesn’t fit the current models of reality that means the current best description of reality is too limited. The reason there are theoretical scientists at all is because it is widely understood and accepted that our understanding of reality is incomplete.

In order to imagine complexity beyond what we perceive first-hand, it’s often useful to look at perspectives we already have a good feel for. For example, you might break your mind if you try to imagine 5 dimensions. Just, don’t do it; it hurts. However, it’s a lot easier to understand the difference between a 3D reality and a 2D reality, as in Edwin A. Abbott’s wondrous novella, Flatland. We can see in this work how a person confined to 2D space, a person who was like a sketch on a flat piece of paper, would have his mind blown away by a conversation with someone from our 3D world.

Another great example is the analogy C.S. Lewis came up with to illustrate the advantages of God’s infinite existence as it deals with our perception of time. It was his answer when someone would confide to Lewis that while they could believe God was powerful enough to listen to everyone’s prayers on the planet, they had trouble comprehending how he could listen to all those people yammering on at the same time. Lewis tried to encourage their imagination by having them visualize a character in a book. Before the book is finished being written, the author may write half a chapter about that character, and then stop mid-way. Maybe the author goes for a walk to think about how to solve the character’s problems. Maybe the author doesn’t go back to writing the rest of the chapter for a week. Or, maybe the author takes 50 years to think through the ending of the chapter. Either way, the chapter will read the same once it’s written, and the character’s perception of events will also be the same. In this way, God’s infinite existence is to our world as the author’s reality is to the book character’s limited world.

When I speak with those who tell me they have trouble believing in God, I always hear this voice quietly repeating in my mind. It doesn’t say, oh ye of little faith. It says, oh ye of little imagination. And so, I humbly submit this novella as a tool which just might aid in subtly expanding your imagination and creativity. May it allow you to question your hard assumptions about reality and envision how a bigger reality beyond our comprehension can and does exist. And if that doesn’t work, might I suggest one of the textbooks in my curriculum when I earned a degree in applied physics: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by David J. Griffiths.

It was also my aim to create a story that held entertainment value completely aside from any allegorical meanings. I am deeply grateful for Andrew Hjelmhaug’s assistance and blunt honesty in editing this story to that end. I hold his opinions on works of fiction, among many other things, in high regard.

Christian Mendell worked very hard as my Theological Editor and I am so thankful for his help and very capable imagination. The scope of this allegory expanded to encompass many more topics within Christianity and he helped me make sure I didn’t inadvertently say anything blasphemous.

Lastly, I’d like to thank Dave Egly for offering his artistic expertise out of the blue to help with the ebook cover art. I’d found the limits to my digital art abilities while throwing the first draft of the cover together, and Dave brought it far beyond its original just-barely-passable status under a very tight deadline!

I hope at the very least, you enjoy the entertainment value of this story. If you are one of the more astute and curious readers, I hope you enjoy the hidden code I embedded within. My highest hopes are, of course, that this framework can help you imagine from a different angle some of the symbols and concepts of Christianity. As the great C.S. Lewis would say about his own metaphors, the ones found here are not perfect, nor is it likely they could be. Nonetheless, I hope with creativity and open-mindedness you may find them in some manner useful. Whatever your experience, I’d be interested to read your feedback, and I can be found at http://www.ErinMMcDermott.com

Chapter 1

Adam kicked his legs toward the sun as his father launched him on the swing, over his head, into the blue. The boy squealed with laughter behind a surgical mask as he soared. Mr. Abram ran under Adam’s legs as the swing reached its apex, and turned to face the boy. They were both laughing now.

It had been so long since he’d seen Adam laugh. Mr. Abram tried to think back to the last time. It was before the boy was sent away. It was before Adam’s mother lie on the floor with darkening sight and blood springing through invisible perforations in her skin. Her skeleton, it had begun to melt away. Those sharp features beneath delicate porcelain - her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her fine jawline and chin, dissolving. Then every sinew, every tendon snapped loudly as her shoulders, knees, hips ripped asunder beneath unbroken skin. Her shrieks were at first loud enough, shrill enough to puncture Mr. Abram’s chest, his very heart, until they too dissolved . . .

As Adam picked up speed again on the descent, he let out another gleeful Woooo! His dark hair flew forward above a rosy, flushed forehead. It was like a warm,