Vermillion Road: Excerpt Of Literature

Part I

Meanwhile, Great-heart commanded the others to find crowbars and wedges. pulleys, and ropes wherewith to pull down the walls of Doubt. "There must not remain one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down," commanded he.

In the process of searching for tools, Honest and the two brothers found themselves amid the clutter and trash of the (dead) giant (Despair's) apartment (for 'tis oft the case that the servants of evil are quite messy. And the reason? Why, to drive away any angel visitants from the kingdom of light - for amidst confusion they cannot long abide).

Then Joseph shouted down from the apartment window, "Great-heart! You should see a these statues of naked people here in the witch's (the giants wife, Diffidence) apartment!"
"Remember your covenant, Joseph," he warned. "Look not upon them, lest you be defiled by them."

"What then?"
"Obey the Scriptures. Smash them!"
So Joseph kept his soul pure by keeping his eyes above the necks of the voluptuous statues. One by one thirteen idols where beheaded and smashed into heaps of dusty rubble.
Then James came forth from the library carrying several ancients books and reading them amusedly from one of them. Shouting from the window he said, "Great-heart!" The Giant even has a library of joke books. Why, here is one called 'Nations Geography' that speaks of millions of years to create one little worm! Can you imagine!"
" 'Tis science- falsely so-called. Those books are the very cornerstone of Doubt. Burn them. Burn them all!"
"What about these funny paintings of monkeys turning into men?"
"To the flames with them!" Commanded Great-heart. "Don't even look upon them. Let us return this castle (of Doubt) to the jungle."
So they fell hard to destroying the abominable statues, vile images, deceitful books, and all the instruments and appendages of demon worship. Then they set out to bring down the walls and towers of Doubting Castle (which was not so hard now that the cornerstones had been consigned to the flames.)

- (in the dungeon, Matthew and Samuel are releasing prisoners of the dead Despair, and Doubting Castle) -

"There was a loud creaking sound as Matthew forced back the rusty door, saying, "There you are, professor. Free as a bird."
"Thank you, lad. Thank you very much. You may address me as Dr. Liberal."
"Don't thank us, Doctor," responded Matthew. "Thank God."
"God! Hmmph," snorted the man as he gathered up some papers. "Don't you know yet? There is no such a thing as God!"
"What!" Exclaimed Matthew incredulously. "No God!"
"You heard me correctly, lad. God is a figment of man's imagination - word invented to describe undiscovered technology."
"But the religion of Christ..."
"Ah, yes. Religion - a powerful tool of the priestly caste used to control weak men's minds."
Just then came a thunderous crash as another pillar of Doubt crashed to the ground.
"We, say what you want, friend," answered Matthew nervously. "We have opened the door to freedom. You can either escape with us for find your own way out."
"Out! Ha! This dungeon is an intricate maze from which none have escaped. How do you propose to find a way out? He challenged belligerently.
"We'll pray at each point of decision," answered Matthew confidently.
"Pray! Mocked the man with an all-knowing chuckle that sent ripples cascading down his long, flowing academic robes. "Ha, ha, ha! Surely you can't be serious!"
"We also accompany our prayers with action," added Samuel.
"Action? What action?"
"Well," said Samuel as he picked up a loose cobblestone, every time we encounter a mirror of confusion (which was seemingly on every wall of the dungeon in order to bring confusion to the walkers of the dungeon halls) we make our way easier by smashing it."
"What! Hey! Wait, wait, wait!" He protested. "This maze of Doubt has taken years to construct! It is a word-famous work of art!"
"Built for the destruction of souls!" Declared Matthew.
"Souls! Bah!" Scoffed the man. "There are no souls. This life is all I have."
"Well then, all the more reason to follow us out lest all you have be lost," answered Matthew. "A stone strait ahead, Samuel."
And this Samuel did wish smashing success.
"Stop!" Cried the scholar.
"Another other to the right, Sammy."
"I said stop!" Shouted the earned professor amidst the sounds of shattering glass. "You are desecrating fine art!"
"We are saving our lives!" Shouted Matthew amid the thunderous sounds of another great battlement crashing down above them. "Our brothers don't know about this maze. They must think we're already out."
"Brothers! And just what are your barbaric brothers doing up there?" Demanded the professor.
"They are destroying Doubting Castle."
"What! and what about a the giant's (Despairs) exquisite statues?""Well, if I know master Great-heart, they are' no doubt reduced to a heap of dust by now," answered Matthew. "Come along now."
"And what about he paintings?"
"Probably gloating away in a cloud of smoke. Are you coming?"
"And the library?"
"The same. Come, everyone. Hurry! Lead the way, Samuel." So Samuel started out, towing Despondency and (his daughter) Much-afraid (whom they had found in the dungeon earlier) along by their hands. Matthew, loathe to lose the indignant scholar, tried once again to persuade him. "And you? Are you coming?"
"You destructive barbarians! Away with you!"
"Do you know the way out?"

"I don't need your ignorant help, if that's what you mean!"

"We have the only light." (the light was the life of men, and the light shined in the Darkness: John 1)

"Light? Light is only an impingement of photons on our retina causing complicated molecular changes that send electrical signals to the inner recesses of our brain."

"What?"

"In plain English, light is only an illusion."

"That's funny. It works well enough for me. And what about darkness?"

"What is real? What is not? Who really knows?"

"I do. Follow me and see!"

"Matthew!" Cried Samuel from far up the tunnel. Then came another great crashing sound.

"Coming! Come on, friend. We can debate truth up top."

"Truth! What is truth? Can it even be debated?"

The renewed sounds of falling timbers and crashing stones added further urgency to Matthew's voice. "Later. Later!" he commanded. "You must hurry!"

A shower of dust and debris from above added weight to Marthe's command and even the professor saw that philosophical discussions could wait for another day. "Oh, very well," answered he petulantly. "Just let me get my Doctor's degree. Takes years to earn one you know. A fellow can't get a decent job without one."

Another collapsing wall shook the earth and sent a cloud of dust roiling down into the dungeon.

.... Turning back, (Matthew) was dismayed to see nothing by the Doctor's backside as he dug among all his many articles and dissertations (looking for his Doctor's degree).

"Be right with you. I seem to have misplaced my degree," muttered the scholar. In his frantic search he scattered reams of paper about in a virtual snowstorm. "I could have sworn I had it right here. I look at it every morning, you know. Perhaps I have hit it under the chamber pot."

"Forget it! There is not time"

"Time? Time is only another illusion. But my degree is my touchstone of reality. Now where on earth did I put it? Perhaps in my dissertation."

"... Well, I'm going, sir. Catch me if you can." And with that, Matthew turned to rejoin Samuel and his charges who were growing increasingly fearful of being buried alive.

"I'll be right there," muttered the over-intelligent Doctor of Philosophy as he continues his search in the rapidly darkening dungeon. "My! You would think that in such a small cell as this, one could certainly find a simple, gold-leafed degree, wouldn't you? Hmmm. Perhaps it is in the pocket of my gown..."

Meanwhile, Matthew had gotten himself caught up and was leading the ascent up the last, twisting stairway. And so they made their escape just moments before a tottering wall crashed down and buried the last exit from Despair's dungeon.... "