The sunshine sowed moted rays of warmth into his bones. The portal was open and welcomed him to explore his unbidden resolve. From heaven or from hell? He thought, as he propelled one of the colored marbles through the entrance. The azure Perry rolled from the apartment floor to the thick mossy carpet on the opposite side of the portal.
He recoiled as a melon shaped mound with dozens of legs split in half and swallowed up the marble. He staggered back and grabbed his dissertation on multidimensional travel. Shaking, he read the parable he had garnered from the ancient texts he had so cleverly taken from the archives of ethereal education. He read the ancient parable, loud, sure and true. The portal wavered for a moment as it hesitated between this world and the next. Finally, it closed with a brief sharp squelching creak. Falling to the floor, his thesis in hand, he breathed in the residue of dank discovery left behind by the portal, owing god his salvation, his certain survival.
Concluding his thesis statement he wrote:
“The gateway represents either Heaven or hell; nothing is cut and dried.”
THE END
* * *
Ron is aspiring to become established as a poet and a short story writer. He has written 94 books of poetry over the past several years and 16 novels: He has been submitting his work for the past year and is thrilled by acceptance. He is always looking for an audience. He has published 285 poems and 120 short stories in a variety of periodicals.
CUT AND DRIED by Ron Koppelberger,
