Portal To Hell by Gary O. Bennett
INT.
Fade in. We see darkness punctuated by a hole about one foot
in diameter. On the other side of the hole is bright yellow
light. The light seems to flicker. Charlene is on our side
of the hole, the dark side. She is holding her arms, gaining
warmth from the hole. She sits frame left. From frame right
arrives Meg.
MEG
Where are we?
CHARLENE
I’m not sure.
MEG
What’s through there?
CHARLENE
I don’t know.
MEG
I remember a lot of pain. I was looking
at my granddaughter. Then I closed my
eyes.
CHARLENE
You have a granddaughter?
MEG
Three of them.
CHARLENE
You seem young.
MEG
I’m 73.
CHARLENE
That’s impossible.
MEG
How old are you?
CHARLENE
96.
MEG
I’m dreaming.
CHARLENE
It’s not a dream. You don’t dream of
dreaming. So if you ask the question,
it’s real.
MEG
But how can you be 96 years old?
CHARLENE
I was in a chair. A wheelchair.
Watching TV. Lots of people were sitting
around watching TV. The last thing I
remember is a K-Mart commercial.
Everything went black after that.
MEG
What’s it mean?
CHARLENE
It means that I’m dead.
MEG
What’s your name?
CHARLENE
Charlene.
MEG
Mine’s Margaret, but everyone calls me
Meg.
There is a moment of silence.
MEG
It’s so dark and cold. This is the only
light.
CHARLENE
I was feeling content, but now I am
feeling scared.
MEG
Why?
CHARLENE
I don’t know.
MEG
I ask because I feel the same way.
CHARLENE
You didn’t hear me. We are both dead.
MEG
No.
CHARLENE
And we are in the dark facing a hole of
light and heat. Is this the heat of
heaven or hell?
MEG
This must be heaven. I have lived a good
life.
CHARLENE
I have not.
MEG
But you repented. You asked for
forgiveness. You have been forgiven.
CHARLENE
No I didn’t. I do not believe in God.
MEG
You must. You wouldn’t be here.
CHARLENE
Maybe you take your beliefs into hell
with you.
MEG
You are wrong. I have been good. I have
grandchildren. This is heaven.
CHARLENE
I lived to the age of 96. I lived for 52
years after I murdered my husband and got
the life insurance proceeds. I lived in
total freedom. I lived in wealth. They
never suspected it was me. My wonderful
life was proof that there is no God.
MEG
Did your husband beat you?
CHARLENE
No. He was a nice man. But I didn’t
love him. I married him for the money,
but he was worth more dead than alive.
MEG
Did you have children?
CHARLENE
I never remarried.
MEG
Did you give money to charity? Did you
go to church? Were you good to your
neighbors?
CHARLENE
No. I kept everything. I traveled a
great deal. Traveled with different
lovers.
MEG
Were you nice to people? Did you treat
the mailman with respect, the plumber?
What about your parents? Did you take
care of your parents?
CHARLENE
I hated my parents. They died poor and
sick a few months apart from each other.
I didn’t go to their funerals. I didn’t
see them. I didn’t communicate with
them.
MEG
You must have done something that has
brought you here.
CHARLENE
You think here is the gateway to heaven.
I think you are mistaken. I think we
stand before the entrance to hell. I
think you are dishonest about your life.
You must have done something horrible.
Something that has brought you here.
MEG
I was married to the same man for forty
years. I had beautiful children. I was
good to people. I went to church. I
believed. I believed. But if this is the
gateway to hell, I will no longer
believe. How can my life be a bad life?
I will no longer believe.
CHARLENE
If this is the gateway to hell, I will
believe. If this the gateway to hell,
you will nor believe. Think hard. What
did you do wrong?
MEG
No. You think hard. What did you do
right? This is heaven. Goddamit, this
is heaven.
Suddenly in the hole a disfigured face appears. Briefly.
Meg and Charlene are startled. A moment passes.
CHARLENE
Is that the face of heaven?
Meg almost starts to cry.
MEG
What did I do? What did I do?
CHARLENE
I am aware of every wrong thing I have
done in my life. How can you be so
forgetful?
MEG
This is a trick to test my faith. But I
will not be tricked. This is the devil’s
work. Maybe you are doing the devil’s
work. I have lived the life of a saint.
I have lived a righteous life. I do not
deserve to be in hell. I deserve heaven.
Do you hear me? Heaven. This is the
light of heaven. And I will enter this
place and leave you behind here in the
dark, in the dark of hell. Maybe this is
the portal between heaven and hell.
CHARLENE
Think Meg. Think hard.
MEG
It was so long ago.
CHARLENE
Did you kill someone?
MEG
God no. I stole some money. I stole
some money from my mother. I forged her
signature on hundreds of checks. Stole
thousands. I was young.
CHARLENE
Did she ever find out?
MEG
No one ever found out. Not my mother,
Not my sisters. Not my lawyers. I
tricked everyone. I told no one. Ever.
It allowed me to buy a house. It allowed
me to get a start. This cannot be the
reason? I took care of my mother.
CHARLENE
You took care of your mother with your
mother’s money. And you let people think
you were generous.
MEG
I showed her love.
CHARLENE
But you lied to her to her very last day.
You have kept this lie with you all your
life, to the day you died, and you had no
remorse. You though it would go away.
But our sins never go away. Do they Meg?
Do they?
MEG
It’s not fair. You were horrible. You
did horrible things. I did one thing
wrong. One little thing. How can we be
here together? I don’t deserve what you
deserve.
CHARLENE
Neither of us confessed. Neither of us
told anyone of our crimes. We kept it
hidden. Everyday we kept it hidden, we
committed a new crime. A new sin.
MEG
It’s not fair.
CHARLENE
Fair. We both had good lives. We both
benefitted from our crimes. Good lives
we led. Now it is time for a little
payback, I guess. Maybe it is fair.
MEG
Bullshit. I’m not going. I’m not going
through that hole. Do you hear me, you
sonofabitch. Every Goddamn Sunday I went
to your church and this is how you pay me
back, you bastard. Don’t you want my
grandchildren to see their grandmother in
heaven. How can you do this to them, or
are you going to punish them too?
Suddenly a light shines on Charlene’s face.
MEG
What’s that?
Charlene’s face lights up. A smile comes across it.
MEG (cont’d)
What’s happening?
Charlene faces the light.
CHARLENE
I understand.
MEG
You understand what?
Charlene rises and drifts away, leaving Meg alone.
MEG (cont’d)
Where are you going? You can’t leave me
here.
A moment passes.
MEG (cont’d)
See. I knew we weren’t going to the same
place. I knew it. I knew it. I would
never be going to the same place as
someone like you.
FADE TO BLACK.
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