and broaden the human experience as best they can. The Cylinder is concrete proof of that. After death, mankind comes here if they failed, or to Heaven if they succeeded. But if they knew about this, it would change everything.
“Dangerously few people would work hard, or dream, or love well and with all their hearts. Because no matter how they lived, they get this in the end.
“Mankind’s progress has been slow but steady. But now Satan is attempting to change that. He says there is no more room in Hell and has begun moving the dead back to Earth in greater and greater numbers. Those who have already been sent were told the move wouldn’t be permanent. Life on Earth is made as pleasant as possible for them by allowing them to create their environment.
“God cannot reason with Satan about this, but we know that is nothing new. This forced relocation has been going on for centuries, but until now God overlooked it because the few that were sent back to Earth were regarded by the living as lunatics and ignored. Not anymore.”
“Why? Why is it happening?”
“Because Mankind no longer accepts the idea of Damnation. He no longer feels he deserves eternal suffering for what he did or did not do on Earth. Guilt has grown obsolete. In the past, people were so afraid of what would happen to them in the afterlife that they created the most frightening scenarios possible. So when they did die, naturally those things happened to them. They brought their worse nightmares along and they came true.
“No longer. For the common man today, a fire-and-brimstone Hell has become an old-fashioned idea, and Heaven is a child’s dream.”
“Because we live happier lives, we get to be happier dead?”
“Exactly, and Satan absolutely hates that. When suffering prevailed in Hell, he was satisfied. But since people create their own Hell from what they knew in life, in recent decades it has generally become a rather nice place. He cannot abide that. So he has changed the rules. He is sending the dead back to Earth en masse. And it is clear what effect that will have on things there.”
“Why doesn’t God stop him?”
“Because God wants us to stop him. It is part of our ongoing task.”
“How? How are we supposed to stop the Devil?”
“We must come up with a plan. Perhaps many plans before one works effectively. Obviously some will work, others won’t.”
“Jeez, Bill, are we going to have to drag you over to the table with a rope? We even got your favorite over there—potato salad with extra horseradish in the sauce.” My father was suddenly in front of me smiling that great old smile that had always made me want to climb in his lap and stay there forever.
“Dad, where’s mom? Is she here?”
He smiled and threw a thumb over his shoulder for me to look there. Coming out of the restaurant was my mother. A cry rose up in my throat that I was just barely able to hold onto before it spilled out. There she was, looking like she did before the cancer ate her body. There she was in that red-and-white striped dress, all her black hair long and curly again. Best of all she was chubby like before—“pleasantly plump” as she called herself. Not the hairless stick-thin woman who turned to the wall one day while lying in her bed and never really turned back, choosing instead to disappear into her sickness and never come out again.
In her hands she held a whipped cream cake. Sort of pale pink on the sides, black bittersweet chocolate on the top. It was my favorite. She had always made it on special occasions. The last time I ever had it was on our wedding day. Rae got the recipe from her but was never able to make it right. All Moms have one secret recipe that can’t be copied and this was hers. A whipped cream cake.
She went to the table and put it down in front of an empty seat. Reaching over, she arranged the silverware there. I knew she was setting it up for me. Come over and cut your cake, she was saying. Sit with your father and me and tell us what your life has been since we left. Tell us about Rae who we always liked and your job and how you’ve filled your days. Because we love you and want to hear everything. How many people on this Earth