Gluttony Thicket 3, continued

 As we drew nearer to our bus stop, the brush seemed to grow denser and taller the further we drove in. It was darker here, because the dense brush blocked much of the sunlight from passing through and where it was able to permeate, it cause patchy bright spots surrounded by crowds of overlapping shadows. A dense fog-like, mist in the air further obscured things. A feeling of butterflies in the pits of our stomachs started welling up inside of us as we began to to imagine what was awaiting us here, but we didn’t let that feeling get the best of us because we had many things to feel reassured about. First of all, Father Wolfergger would still be able to stay with us, although  he had explained well that the trial was still ours and the obstacles and set backs made purely because of our vice and attachments, would be up to us to work through. He would serve as spiritual director and guide, but progress otherwise was up to us. 

 

Just before Anita was glancing at Fred, he saw a sign that read Gluttony Thicket and immediately he had an almost uncontrollable urge to eat a whole lemon margarine pie as he had done many times in his youth then he started to feel itchy.

When the bus reaches our drop off point and we stepped off of the bus, in a passing glance I noticed my uncle seemed a little uncomfortable, I saw him scratching around his neck. He didn’t mention anything though so I decided not say anything. Anyway, I was starting to feel a bit worn out with a slight headache setting in. A little achey too. “That’s strange” I thought. “I was feeling fine on the bus.”

 

As Anita was glanced at her uncle a second time, he looked all puffed up like the Pillsbury Doughboy including a Doughboy ridiculous smile.

Anita eyes opened wide as she instinctively lurched back and gasped. Fred didn’t seem to be aware of his ballooning condition. Instead, he just continued to stand there and smile, lost in some kind of delightful daydream/thought. Once in a while he would murmur something, and lick his lips, and his body kept swelling more and more.

Nothing would snap him out of his ecstasy and finally Fr. Wolferger yelled, You better pinch him, quick, before he pops!”

Anita pinched him fast and hard and with that Fred let out a huge belch and deflated back to normal.

Father Wolferger immediately exclaimed, we need to keep moving along, I’ll explain some things as we’re walking.”

Have you heard of the Chinese tale called “Seeing Gold”? Where a man that has such a craving for wealth passes by and sees a stand selling gold items and despite his better judgement, his uncontrollable desire for wealth/riches led him to grab the gold items and run. After he was arrested by the police, they asked him why he would do such a foolish thing, knowing there would be no way to get away with the gold in such a crowded place, he replied, “when I reached and grabbed I saw only gold, not the other people.” Gluttony is similar. Here if you let your thoughts run away from you, you can easily lose your reasoning ability and complete control of your will and become inflated with a fattening desire that fills you up like a hot air balloon.

I will also warn you, the warm mist here will get thicker as we get closer to the source. It coming from what is similar to a hot water spring with steaming geysers. But these springs and geysers Are made up of stomach acids and gastric bile which shoot scorching steam that causes altered vision, and it will cause you to start seeing things that will tempt you most, but don’t fall for it! When you go to eat it it’s a trap, and your tongue will get stuck and you will be like a squirming worm on a hook and bait for the swine!”

Remember that the conditions here are fitting for those that allowed their senses and unchecked appetites to control them. Now what they see, taste and smell here are clouded by tempting illusions that make no logical sense, yet they suffer the pains and consequences of chasing after fleeting pleasures that do not exist here, only consequences for their lack of temperance, sobriety and fasting. To get out of here you will be tested in these fronts. Pain can snap you back to reality, custody of the mind will keep on the right path and in control of your senses, and moderation will help you grow stronger here so that you can tolerate wading through the gastric hot springs. 

As we walked along the marked path that extended from the bus stop, we began to hear some disturbing sounds. We could hear various simultaneous high-pitched squeals along with quickly approaching footsteps, and rustling leaves and branches from the brush being disturbed by something moving low to the ground. Because of the thick bushes and vines, we couldn’t see or even get a glimpse of what was coming toward us. The squeals became louder and we froze, wondering if we should run back in the direction we came or instead sprint onward as fast as we could.  

“Those must be the herd of gluttonous swine I’ve heard about” Fr. Wolfergger said calmly. 

Suddenly, a dark, boar like beast dodged out of the bushes and ran towards us. As it ran past us it snapped it’s mouth at us and tried to nip at our legs. Fred kicked it in the ribs and it fell to the ground as fast as a pancake being flipped on a griddle. 

“Well that was easy!” he said with a grin and a satisfied look on his face. 

As we walked past the dormant beast, it was disturbing to see worms and insects already crawling over the edges of its body. It smelled horrible. It had the putrid stench of stale bread along with a  sulfur like smell of rotting meat.

“Wow, I have to say, that was a lucky kick, Fred! The belly is precisely their weak point. Any other spot would have done nothing but only enraged it more, leading it to instantaneously grow fatter and stronger, in proportion to its unmoderated cravings and appetites for souls. The souls here have no defense against them since they no longer have their flesh to fight back.”

Fred chuckled, “Well then, good for those years I learned to fight and defend myself.”

Since the threat of the swine seemed to have passed, at least for the moment, we couldn’t help but let our minds drift back to the ever worsening symptoms we had been having since we’d stepped off the bus. My head was pounding now. Fred couldn’t stop scratching his arms and neck.

As we continued to walk along the ever narrowing path, we picked up the pace, but by now we had to walk in single file because the brush grew so thick here that it was starting to completely choke off any remaining pathway. The foggy mist was also now more like walking through a thick, muggy/wet cloud. Father Wolferger led the way, Anita followed behind him and Fred kept patrol in the back. 

As they walked, Fred said, "Anita, this a really weird place." 

As he was still itching and wondering if he was going to blow up like a balloon again, suddenly he heard something moving behind him. As he turned around to see what it was, he saw dog with a mustache and face like Hitler eating a carrot while saying, "Save the lobsters from suffering at the hands of murdering sub-humans." 

Suddenly it attacked him, so he it kicked in the stomach, like had had done to the boar beast, and when he did, it disappeared like a puff of smoke, expanding and then dissipating/fading into the fog. By the time Anita turned around, it was gone, but she'd heard some strange crunching sounds and incoherent mumbling before they abruptly ended.  Father Wolferger had heard it too. He warned, "That could be real or it could be that the mist is already affecting our senses and imagination." 

He continued, "Here you will not only see the stereotypical form of gluttony related to overeating. Sure, that is one of the most common, but there are other forms of gluttony related to pickiness and daintiness. Let me show you here on the maps the different subregions that exist here. "