Nathan had finally convinced his mom to buy him the best birthday present ever. The all new, Dante's Inferno: The Video Game. Every kid at Nathan's school had it and he was itching to get his hands on it. It took some convincing to get his mom's approval, considering the whole game is one big escape from hell. But she managed to crack.
Nathan sat in the backseat gripping onto the box with excitement. When he got home he was going straight to his room and staying there all day. He wanted to be the first of his friends to beat the game in its entirety. Nathan's mom pulled into their driveway and before she had even parked he leapt out of the car game in tow as he rushed into the house.
He slammed his door closed and locked it, excitement oozing out of his pores. He pulled out his chair, slipped the disk into his Xbox and put on his headphones. The game started up and the start screen emerged from the blank monitor. The screen showed nine circular rings surrounded by a roaring red fire. Inside the rings in a simple font read, "Dante's Inferno: The Video Game". His finger hovered over the start button on his controller. He took and deep breath and began.
It had been eight hours since Nathan firth sat down. He had taken no breaks. Didn't get up to go to the bathroom, eat or even just to stretch his legs. All of this resulted in him making it all the way the the ninth level. Each ring in Dante's Inferno was represented as a level in the game. He was about to come face to face with Satan himself. Nathan's bloodshot eyes drooped but he pushed through for the sake of finishing the game. He knew he needed to win. If he lost this level he would be sent all the way back to the first ring and have to completely start over.
He watched the screen with intensity. His once sleepy eyes widened at the sight of the animated king of beasts. Satan was as tall as the buildings that he stood next to. He towered over Nathan's small CGI character. His heart rate picked up at the sight of three men in the three separate mouths on each head of the monster.
The boy's focus was unmatched as he battled and battled for what seemed like hours. He didn't dare break his gaze from the screen to check the time because he knew if he did the final boss would find a way to end him. His headphones blocked out any outside noise replacing it with the sounds of swords and the cries of the dead. He hadn't even heard the creak of his bedroom door opening.
One shot to the heart brought Satan to his knees. Nathan almost had him. He was going to win. He'd show all his friends at school when they came over and tell them how he defeated Satan first. He could smell victory as it grew closer.
"Nathan! It's two in the morning what on earth are you still doing up?" Nathan's mother had barged into his room with a scowl that could rival Satan's. She huffed in annoyance and pulled the plug connecting his game system to the outlet.
The screen turned black and Nathan stopped breathing. he slowly turned to his mother. The look of defeat apparent.
"Bed. Now."
Nathan crawled into bed. Still unable to process what had happened he closed his eyes and hoped to play again tomorrow.
Athour's Note: I read Dante's Inferno this week. The entire time I was reading I couldn't help but compare the 9 circles that Dante and Virgil had to navigate, to video game levels. That's what gave me the idea to make Inferno into a video game. I wanted some comedic features so I added the part at the end where his mom pulls the plug.
Bibliography: Satan, Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline (2002)
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