Chapter 4 – Breaking an Icy Soul
For the last time, Linus is wakened up by the light for his last challenge.
“It’s time,” it says from the fireplace.
Linus has woken up groggily every time, but this time he shoots up and immediately goes out the door. He’s now in the icy center of pride. The devil is suspended in the center and is separated from Linus by a chasm. Satan’s limbs, body, head, and throat are wrapped in chains. He fidgets as spirits and energy are released from his body to exert his influence on the world as far as God allows. The body of Satan itself is at least as big as the mountain that Linus slid down.
Several demons and condemned souls crawl up from the depths of the chasm and surround Linus. There doesn’t appear to be any way out as the hordes surround the boy on all sides. They laugh and mock him as they push him around and swipe at him to make him dance for their enjoyment. The condemned souls here are much different than the previous ones. Because they are much crueler, there are more teeth in their mouth, which includes a snake-like mouth in it as well. Additional mouths line their skin that continuously eat their regenerating skin. Along with their hands being mouths, their feet have also become mouths as well. These particular condemned scare Linus the most.
They taunt him by saying, “You’re going to be like us, kid!”
“You can suffer with the rest of the brats here after we tear you apart limb from limb!”
“I’ve forgotten how children scream out in terror and pain! Give us a reminder won’t ya?!”
“We’ll be sure to make your pain last forever and ever!”
Several dark spirits spit out from Satan. The crowd of demons and condemned move aside to make way for them. The dark spirits morph themselves into different versions of Linus that are like the condemned and demons of pride.
One speaks, “I have a pride that rivals the devil.”
Another, “Look how good I am! I’m truly an angel among angels sent by God!”
And another, “What else do I need to trust in besides myself? I’m already amazing as is.”
The doppelgangers then surround Linus and begin throwing punches at him. None of the punches land weirdly enough, which gives Linus the opportunity to fight and push them back.
Unaffected by his attacks, the copies say, “Hahaha! So much for you being a force to be reckoned with!”
“A lowly street dog has more strength than you do!”
“You don’t have a chance to escape with your power!”
The three then start swinging at Linus again, but they never harm him. Thinking of solutions in his head, Linus remembers that through this journey he has learned to despise himself, but that’s not what he’s supposed to do. He thinks to himself that he should love himself and that he can’t everything on his own. He then puts his hands together to pray. As he does this, he can feel, not his heart, but the very core of his soul starts to crack and melt as if it had been frozen for years. A light then begins to shine from his body and scare away the demons and condemned while teleporting Linus away to a view overlooking all of Winter’s Clutches.
He sees all of the challenges he’s faced along with other areas he hasn’t seen. He can even see other normal people going through their challenges. Most fail while few succeed.
The light descends from above and says, “Congratulation, Linus. You’ve done what few do.”
“I guess I can be pretty amazing-if I put my selfishness aside.”
“Do you know what the goal of life is that this season emphasizes?”
“It’s to spread the love that God shows us back to Him and to our neighbor. We do that through our actions during the seasons, but we shouldn’t just show it now. We should be doing this for our entire life.”
“That’s right.”
The light hugs Linus.
“I’m so glad that you came back to your senses.”
Linus hugs back.
“Thank you for bringing me back to them. What happens now?”
A strong gust of snow sweeps Linus up into the wind. When he opens his eyes, he’s standing in front of his house.
“Oh…I guess this does,” Linus says aloud, “But I’ll always treasure my experience and the lessons they taught me. Yes, today, I’m a new boy!”
Linus’ parents step outside the house because they head him talking. He hugs them and tells them how much he loves them and how he’s going to be a better son from now on. He then heads inside with the biggest smile they’d seen on his face in a while. In terms of changing, he takes off things from his Christmas list, goes back to the church to donate more money, and becomes friends with the other kids at his school with the goal of having a relationship with them instead of taking advantage of their smarts and abilities. Everyone in town doesn’t have a clue as to why he changed, but they like it. Linus becomes a loving and productive member of his community with the goal of staying like this for the rest of his life thanks to the lessons he’s learned and the challenges that disciplined him.
The End
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