The room was dark and still. The curtains had been drawn as if to reflect the life that the man lying in the bed had led. He had been a famous man, an intelligent man. He was a philosopher that stood above other philosophers in his time. His arguments were told in short stories and books that he had written. The man had gone through some changes over the course of his life and was so intelligent he was able to change even his own mind while holding debates with himself when he was alone.
When he was alone. He was alone now as he struggled for each and every breath that he could take to stay alive. No one was here now to debate whether he was dying or simply falling into a deep sleep from which he would never awake. His eyes were closed but he could hear a voice every now and again of a nurse talking about how much time he had left. Apparently they were betting in the hospital on the hour and day in which he would no longer need to be cared for.
In Heaven, God sent a messenger to bring one of the residents in to see Him. The resident soul had been known while he was on earth as a great debater himself. He was known far and wide as a conservative man who could argue any point on any subject. He had always relished the test of his thinking abilities in this way. One thing he had never debated though was the existence of God. William Buckley was raised with a strong belief system and had held onto it until the day he had died on Earth. He remembered arriving in Heaven and being told the God wanted to see him as soon as he arrived.
Buckley remembered thinking that although he had always believed, this place wasn't the way he had envisioned it. He found himself bodiless and just a spirit whose job it was to praise God. As he was led to God that first moment after his death he could feel the presence of billions of souls but could see no one.
He was led into the throne room where the great Presence of God was. It was a fearful place but at the same time a calming place. He then heard these words echo though his spirit.
"Buckley," God said, "I have a chore for you to do. In about three Earth years a man's life will end just as yours have. I want you to prepare for his arrival and debate my existence. Go now and prepare."
Suddenly Buckley felt his spirit pulled quickly from the throne room and taken to a place where he would sit in solitude preparing for the debate God had commanded him to take on. Who was this being that was going to arrive shortly to take on such a matter in debate? Buckley only knew one thing. Three Earth years went by might quickly and he had better prepare himself for the commission he had been given. He began to think back on his past debates and figure out what arguments would he face in such a debate. He began to form the debate in his head and carry on the arguments with himself. It would be a greater debate than any he had fought while he was on Earth.
As Christopher Hitchens took his last breath, he found himself being pulled away from his earthly body and out and away from the earth. He was heading towards a dark place. The darkness was far darker than anything he had ever imagined. He felt the restraints of earth being pulled away from him and he found himself in a non-body spirit type being. His thoughts were coming back alive. His great thinking ability was returning to him. Then suddenly he found himself standing next to what he could only perceive as an evil spirit.
"Where am I?" asked Hitchens becoming a bit confused.
"Oh, you know where you are Christopher. If not you will before long. The boss wants to see you. Come along", said the spirit . Hitchens did not want to go but found he had no control over himself at that moment. He followed the spirit into an even darker place where the evilness weighed upon him so that he could hardly stand or hear.
"Christopher Hitchens" he felt the heavy and evil spirit saying to him. "I have been waiting for you quite awhile now. You, sir, have been one of my greatest hopes in this silly war I am engaged in."
Hitchens could not speak because of the weight of the darkness and evil in the place where he was. He tried to think , tried to move and soon settled in that wherever he was, he was stuck until the spirit was done with him..
"I have a chore for you. You are a great debater, no?" the spirit asked as if already knowing the answer. "I have set up a debate for you. If you win the debate, I will make your time here as easy as possible. You will be my confidant and my adviser. The only labor you will have to do while you are here is to think, and you like to think, don't you?"
Hitchens thought that it was obvious that he was a great thinker and that he enjoyed thinking more than anything else. Apparently the spirit read his thoughts as Hitchens was still not able to speak.
"You spent a great deal of time on Earth proving that there is no God. You did a fine job of it. I always looked upon my Christopher Hitchens with pride every time you won one of those debates. You even convinced thousands who were not sure that you were right and my kingdom here has grown because of your thinking and your words."
Hitchens began to wonder what this was all about. Of course he had argued against the existence of God. It was obvious that there was not a God in his mind. He could prove it too. He had proved it hundreds of times. He had even written books upon the subject. So this spirit wanted him to debate it one more time. Sure Hitchens thought. I can do that. I have all the arguments down to a science.
"GOOD!!", the spirits voice boomed, "You will take on my request. Not that you had a choice but it makes it easier when I don't have to force my subjects to do so. You have three days to prepare for the great debate. If you win the debate, as I have said, you will be my adviser. If you lose the debate, however, You will have an eternity of hard labor in which you cannot imagine the pain it will bring upon you. You will be among the lowest of the low in this kingdom that I call my own. You will be so low you will not even be allowed to take part in battles that arise upon the earth. If you lose, you will be sorry ever second that you ever took on the debate.. Now GO!!! and prepare."
Hitchens felt his soul like being pulled from the darkest of the dark and back into the plain dark. He was led by the spirit that brought him to this place to a small room. A room so small he could barely turn around in it. He had three days to go over all of his arguments he had made in the debates on earth. Shouldn't be a problem Hitchens thought.
The three days passed quickly and before he knew it, Hitchens soul was being dragged out of the room and on it's way to the debate.
"I hope you are ready," said the evil spirit. It was the same spirit that had escorted him to the darkest of the dark. "You lose this one, and you will forever be in mournful pain wishing you were back on earth."
The spirits words made Hitchens shiver as they moved upward. Hitchens noticed that the darkness was becoming a little lighter. He could feel the weight of evil ease a little. Finally they came to a stop. It was a gray foggy area . The feeling was one of melancholy. Hitchens stood and waited to see what would happen next. In his mind he went over the arguments he had prepared. He had a feeling this was not going to be easy.
Then before him suddenly stood a spirit that he recognized. It was Buckley! Buckley stood and look at Hitchens. He noticed Hitchens soul was bent and crooked. He noticed a darkness around Hitchens as such he had never seen before. Hitchens always thought that he who spoke first had the advantage and so he began the debate without direction from anyone else.
"So, it is Buckley." Hitchens voice seemed to have a hiss to it and his throat was dry. "Seeing you here it seems that you are to be my opponent in debating the existence of God. Before we begin, Buckley, I must warn you that I am an expert at this subject. I do not ever remember being bested in such a debate. Then again, I never had the opportunity to debate you on this subject until now. "
Hitchens looked over at Buckley who was standing straight and tall and studying him with a look of pity. Buckley remained quiet which was very odd for him.
"If I were you Buckley, May I suggest that you leave right now before embarrassing yourself. I am a much greater debater than you ever thought about being. You stand speechless now out of choice but by the time I am done, you will be speechless because you can't argue with someone as brilliant as me." Hutchins continued to look at Buckley who stood silent and still. He began to lose patience.
"WELL BUCKLEY???" Hitchens hissed loudly. "Are you going to say ANYTHING or just concede right now before you make a fool of yourself?"
Buckley sighed and lowered his head. He then looked back up at Hitchens.
"Yes," Buckley said softly, "you were a great thinker on Earth. Here, though, it takes a much higher level of thinking than you have ever experienced. You did not expand your thinking to a higher level but left it at the level that you had while you were on earth. I am afraid you are doomed, my poor Hitchens. Doomed to an existence beyond comprehension."
Hitchens cocked his head to one side and tried to figure out what Buckley meant but his mind was growing dim and blank as Buckley took a step towards him.
Buckley raised his arm and pointed at Hitchens.
"You are here, Hitchens." Buckley said almost in a sorrowful voice.
"AND???" hissed Hitchens.
"And that is my argument. Since you are here, you lose Hitchens. You being here proves that there is indeed a God." and Buckley turned to walk away.
Suddenly Hitchens felt his soul being pulled back to the darkness very quickly. He reached out in desperation.
"BUCKLEY!!!!!!!!!!!" Hitchens yelled but suddenly his mouth was shut, his lips as if they were glued together. Further and further into the darkness he was drug until he found himself being put to work as one of the tormented. It was not two seconds after Hitchens arrived at his post that he realized he would be there for eternity. He had lost the debate without argument and the Darkest of the Dark Spirits had followed through on his promise.
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