How to solve this?

Ai-chan

Queen of Yuri Devourer of Traps
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
1,413
Points
153
So there's this dude, let's call him Joseph. He is a very hardworking man, always taking care of his sick little brother ever since their religious grandmother passed away in his youth. Despite working so hard, he is still poor. His grandmother said, "Believe in the Lord, and the Lord will take care of you."

But he stopped believing in the Lord long ago. Every misfortune brought him further from the Lord. First it was his parents, who died at sea. Then it was his older brother who died from being mugged on the streets. Then it was his younger brother, who suffered an unknown illness and had been bedridden since Joseph was 12. Then it was his grandmother, who died from being trampled by a nobleman's horse when she came home from church.

So he dedicated his entire life to working, and working, and working. Both to buy medicine for his sick brother and also to elevate himself in wealth. And so, even despite his grandmother's wishes, he accepted working even on the holy day of the Lord, which is Sunday. One day, as he came home from work on Sunday, a young boy came to him.

The young boy said, "You work so hard and yet you are not rich. How does that feel?"

He ignored the young boy and walked away.

The boy said again, "Your hard work is useless, nay?"

He ignored the young boy again.

"Maybe your brother's illness is due to your sins?" the boy said.

In anger, Joseph pushed the boy away. The boy laughed and said something that Joseph himself couldn't remember, but it enraged him so much that he unsheathed his blade. As the boy kept laughing and taunting, Joseph slashed at the boy, decapitating the boy on the spot.

When his anger subsided, he realized what he did and in order to avoid from being arrested, he threw away the decapitated boy's body and head into the river from the large stone bridge. But as soon as he threw the body down the river, the boy returned, taunting him. But this time, the boy has no body, just a head, sitting on the bridge.

"How does that feel? Doing something pointless?" the head of the boy said,

Joseph thought he forgot to throw away the head as well, so he was about to pick it up when the head jumped and bit a chuck of flesh off his cheek. In shock, Joseph covered his cheek as the boy munched on his cheek flesh. When he finally registered what was going on, he ran away, hiding in his shack as his sick brother asked what was wrong.

He didn't answer and went under his covers. He finally fell asleep and went to work in the morning. He thought it was all just a dream and so he pushed the nightmare away and went to work.

It was on his second day going home that he saw it, the head of the boy, from the corner of his eyes. It was just sitting there, eyes open, not doing anything or saying anything. Simply watching him. But every day, the head came closer, and closer and closer. Until on the 16th day of the 4th month, the head was waiting for him in front of his door, making a rotting grin.

This time the boy spoke, he said, "How does it feel to have your sins come back for you?"

Joseph kicked the head away, but it jumped back. He would punch it away, but still it returns. He catch it, but it would bite his fingers. He would try to drown it, but it was he who would drown. He would try to tie it down and burn it, but it was Joseph who felt the heat.

And so Joseph contemplated suicide. But fear that it is forbidden in his faith, despite his lacking faith and he was afraid of going straight to Hell and never meeting his parents again. He also can't leave his sick brother alone.


*******

So how should this end? This is actually Ai-chan's nightmare just now. Except without the church thing. Had to flesh out the story. It's a dream after all.
 

Nyctoria

Active member
Joined
Jul 16, 2022
Messages
52
Points
33
So how should this end?
Carefully? Bashfully?

If Joseph tried suicide, it will fail if it's not his time yet. You can't choose when you die, you can only choose how you die.

In the end, going to hell or heaven is something we choose assuming they exists. God gave us free will for a reason.

Even if God or the afterlife doesn't exist, there is more benefit in believing they exists. Remember Pascal's wager.
 

CupcakeNinja

Pervert Supreme
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Messages
3,066
Points
183
So there's this dude, let's call him Joseph. He is a very hardworking man, always taking care of his sick little brother ever since their religious grandmother passed away in his youth. Despite working so hard, he is still poor. His grandmother said, "Believe in the Lord, and the Lord will take care of you."

But he stopped believing in the Lord long ago. Every misfortune brought him further from the Lord. First it was his parents, who died at sea. Then it was his older brother who died from being mugged on the streets. Then it was his younger brother, who suffered an unknown illness and had been bedridden since Joseph was 12. Then it was his grandmother, who died from being trampled by a nobleman's horse when she came home from church.

So he dedicated his entire life to working, and working, and working. Both to buy medicine for his sick brother and also to elevate himself in wealth. And so, even despite his grandmother's wishes, he accepted working even on the holy day of the Lord, which is Sunday. One day, as he came home from work on Sunday, a young boy came to him.

The young boy said, "You work so hard and yet you are not rich. How does that feel?"

He ignored the young boy and walked away.

The boy said again, "Your hard work is useless, nay?"

He ignored the young boy again.

"Maybe your brother's illness is due to your sins?" the boy said.

In anger, Joseph pushed the boy away. The boy laughed and said something that Joseph himself couldn't remember, but it enraged him so much that he unsheathed his blade. As the boy kept laughing and taunting, Joseph slashed at the boy, decapitating the boy on the spot.

When his anger subsided, he realized what he did and in order to avoid from being arrested, he threw away the decapitated boy's body and head into the river from the large stone bridge. But as soon as he threw the body down the river, the boy returned, taunting him. But this time, the boy has no body, just a head, sitting on the bridge.

"How does that feel? Doing something pointless?" the head of the boy said,

Joseph thought he forgot to throw away the head as well, so he was about to pick it up when the head jumped and bit a chuck of flesh off his cheek. In shock, Joseph covered his cheek as the boy munched on his cheek flesh. When he finally registered what was going on, he ran away, hiding in his shack as his sick brother asked what was wrong.

He didn't answer and went under his covers. He finally fell asleep and went to work in the morning. He thought it was all just a dream and so he pushed the nightmare away and went to work.

It was on his second day going home that he saw it, the head of the boy, from the corner of his eyes. It was just sitting there, eyes open, not doing anything or saying anything. Simply watching him. But every day, the head came closer, and closer and closer. Until on the 16th day of the 4th month, the head was waiting for him in front of his door, making a rotting grin.

This time the boy spoke, he said, "How does it feel to have your sins come back for you?"

Joseph kicked the head away, but it jumped back. He would punch it away, but still it returns. He catch it, but it would bite his fingers. He would try to drown it, but it was he who would drown. He would try to tie it down and burn it, but it was Joseph who felt the heat.

And so Joseph contemplated suicide. But fear that it is forbidden in his faith, despite his lacking faith and he was afraid of going straight to Hell and never meeting his parents again. He also can't leave his sick brother alone.


*******

So how should this end? This is actually Ai-chan's nightmare just now. Except without the church thing. Had to flesh out the story. It's a dream after all.
drink the potion with his brother and unite with god
 

CarburetorThompson

Fuel Atomization Enjoyer
Joined
Jan 27, 2022
Messages
1,080
Points
153
Sorry to hear you had a nightmare, I had a bad one a couple nights ago, but I didn’t bother remembering it.

If you’re trying to end the story I see two options good end or bad end. In all honestly I think a good ending would be harder to write, you see a lot of stories like this but hardly any have a good ending, or at least ending that doesn’t end in death or something worse.

I think if you decide the exact nature of what is afflicting the main character it will be easier to decide on a conclusion. Is he being haunted, possessed, is he going insane due to the exhaustion from being overworked everyday? Even if you don’t want to tell the reader what’s happening, and leave it up to them to decide on, I think it will be easier to write if you decide a scenario.

Sorry all my advice is so vague.
 

NotaNuffian

This does spark joy.
Joined
Nov 26, 2019
Messages
3,626
Points
183
Err.

Live with it? Life's inherently meaningless so is every grind Joseph does.

But what is the alternative? Die? Does dying actually free him from his shackles? Or does it just locks himself into an unearthly debt with the shit he has to clear when on Earth.

This is kind of the reason why I don't want to suicide, not because people say that I will burn in hell, but because there is a chance of an afterlife where I have to "repay" the shit granted from the shitty gatcha roll that is life.

Take that suicidal mindset and turn it into a grindset. Let Joseph hold on to the boy's head and fuck him by the open esophagus.
 

TotallyHuman

It's good to be home.
Joined
Feb 13, 2019
Messages
3,996
Points
183
So there's this dude, let's call him Joseph. He is a very hardworking man, always taking care of his sick little brother ever since their religious grandmother passed away in his youth. Despite working so hard, he is still poor. His grandmother said, "Believe in the Lord, and the Lord will take care of you."

But he stopped believing in the Lord long ago. Every misfortune brought him further from the Lord. First it was his parents, who died at sea. Then it was his older brother who died from being mugged on the streets. Then it was his younger brother, who suffered an unknown illness and had been bedridden since Joseph was 12. Then it was his grandmother, who died from being trampled by a nobleman's horse when she came home from church.

So he dedicated his entire life to working, and working, and working. Both to buy medicine for his sick brother and also to elevate himself in wealth. And so, even despite his grandmother's wishes, he accepted working even on the holy day of the Lord, which is Sunday. One day, as he came home from work on Sunday, a young boy came to him.

The young boy said, "You work so hard and yet you are not rich. How does that feel?"

He ignored the young boy and walked away.

The boy said again, "Your hard work is useless, nay?"

He ignored the young boy again.

"Maybe your brother's illness is due to your sins?" the boy said.

In anger, Joseph pushed the boy away. The boy laughed and said something that Joseph himself couldn't remember, but it enraged him so much that he unsheathed his blade. As the boy kept laughing and taunting, Joseph slashed at the boy, decapitating the boy on the spot.

When his anger subsided, he realized what he did and in order to avoid from being arrested, he threw away the decapitated boy's body and head into the river from the large stone bridge. But as soon as he threw the body down the river, the boy returned, taunting him. But this time, the boy has no body, just a head, sitting on the bridge.

"How does that feel? Doing something pointless?" the head of the boy said,

Joseph thought he forgot to throw away the head as well, so he was about to pick it up when the head jumped and bit a chuck of flesh off his cheek. In shock, Joseph covered his cheek as the boy munched on his cheek flesh. When he finally registered what was going on, he ran away, hiding in his shack as his sick brother asked what was wrong.

He didn't answer and went under his covers. He finally fell asleep and went to work in the morning. He thought it was all just a dream and so he pushed the nightmare away and went to work.

It was on his second day going home that he saw it, the head of the boy, from the corner of his eyes. It was just sitting there, eyes open, not doing anything or saying anything. Simply watching him. But every day, the head came closer, and closer and closer. Until on the 16th day of the 4th month, the head was waiting for him in front of his door, making a rotting grin.

This time the boy spoke, he said, "How does it feel to have your sins come back for you?"

Joseph kicked the head away, but it jumped back. He would punch it away, but still it returns. He catch it, but it would bite his fingers. He would try to drown it, but it was he who would drown. He would try to tie it down and burn it, but it was Joseph who felt the heat.

And so Joseph contemplated suicide. But fear that it is forbidden in his faith, despite his lacking faith and he was afraid of going straight to Hell and never meeting his parents again. He also can't leave his sick brother alone.


*******

So how should this end? This is actually Ai-chan's nightmare just now. Except without the church thing. Had to flesh out the story. It's a dream after all.
Go to church and wholeheartedly try and confess his sins. Talk to the pastor, read the holy scriptures. I dunno, that is all I can imagine he should do.
I can imagine that it wasn't an objective description of Joseph. Maybe he did sin, which caused all this, but he refuses to acknowledge it.
 

Paul_Tromba

Sleep deprived mess of a published author
Joined
Jan 29, 2020
Messages
4,171
Points
183
I would also recommend what @TrashyHuman said and go to Church. @Nyctoria also had some great advice. Faith is a powerful thing. As for the stories meaning? You may not like it.

You are stuck in a rut of toils. Even though you worked and suffered, it never allowed for you to go anywhere in life and (subconsciously or not) you blame yourself for it as well as a higher power. Inducing a false and self destructive mentality of personal salvation through continual work. As you fester in your dissatisfied with life you're haunted by failings you could not have prevented. The desire for proper given salvation and forgiveness from your past eats at you until you can't take it any more. No matter what you do though, the past will eat at you continually till you have no strength left. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged and treat everyone with love. Seek council from those who have also struggled and found happiness in life rather than success. You would be surprised how much different the world looks though caring and loving eyes. At least, this is what I get from it.
 
Last edited:

Ai-chan

Queen of Yuri Devourer of Traps
Joined
Dec 23, 2018
Messages
1,413
Points
153
I would also recommend what @TrashyHuman said and go to Church. @Nyctoria also had some great advice. Faith is a powerful thing. As for the stories meaning? You may not like it.

You are stuck in a rut of toils. Even though you worked and suffered, it never allowed for you to go anywhere in life and (subconsciously or not) you blame yourself for it as well as a higher power. Inducing a false and self destructive mentality of personal salvation through continual work. As you fester in your dissatisfied with life you're haunted by failings you could not have prevented. The desire for proper given salvation and forgiveness from your past eats at you until you can't take it any more. No matter what you do though, the past will eat at you continually till you have no strength left. Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged and treat everyone with love. Seek council from those who have also struggled and found happiness in life rather than success. You would be surprised how much different the world looks though caring and loving eyes. At least, this is what I get from it.
That actually brought a tear to Ai-chan's eyes. Ai-chan shall give you the title of Royal Dream Interpreter.
 
Top