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Along Life’s Way
Choices
of Will: A Fable
© 2018 Lois E. Wilson
Will was falling, descending down, down, down. As he fell, it grew
hotter and hotter until he could hardly breathe. His fall stopped; he
mopped the sweat from his brow and opened his eyes.
There was a large cavernous structure with a flashing sign, “Hotel.” He
walked inside to the desk and said, “You have no gate. Isn’t this
heaven?”
The clerk replied, “No gate is needed because everyone who comes here
has a reservation. We’ve been expecting you! We are overbooked at
present, so you will be on the top floor. As others are checked out and
rooms vacated, you’ll be moved down to the checkout floor.”
Will was concerned, “I think I’m in the wrong place! I want to see the
manager.” She led him down a hall to an office, opened the door and
announced, “Will is here. He wants to see you.”
Behind the desk sat a red-faced man in a red suit. His nametag read,
“I. M. Devil, Hell Hotel Manager.” The man offered Will a seat
and continued, “So you believe you are in the wrong place. Did you
think your reservation was for the No-Tell Hotel where you were
planning to have a tryst with your shall we say, mistress?
“No, Will, you are in the right place. When you transgress, you are not
a trespasser. We have no laws; there is no due process. Your choices
over your lifetime have earned you a place here.
“Let’s reflect on those choices: Early in life, you began defying your
parents who were trying to guide and keep you on the right path. You
bullied classmates. You did petty shoplifting. You cheated on tests.
You skipped school and finally dropped out. You would have nothing to
do with church and religion. You had a child with a girlfriend and have
not supported them. You are not faithful to your wife. You wouldn’t
have your current job if you hadn’t falsified your application. Just
like tonight, you drank heavily and experimented with drugs. Didn’t you
think your choices would have consequences?”
Will hid his face and began to sob. “I don’t belong here. What can I
do? What can I do?” At that moment, there was a huge, jolting
explosion. He thought—that must have been a furnace!
He opened his eyes. He was in a strange room. He saw a syringe and the
empty glasses marked “No-Tel Hotel.” He was not in Hell. Will walked to
the window which overlooked the city. He saw a lighted sign outside a
church across the street. It had one word on it: “REPENT!” He checked
out of the hotel, walked to the church, and knocked on its door.
Moral: It’s never too late. Where there’s a will, there is a way. Luke
11:9 states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.”
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