Absence of Faith by Anthony S. Policastro

hell and back?"
    "At first I thought so. It was so
real, but now I think it was a nightmare. Something triggered the
experience in my head. The burnt skin...well, I'm as puzzled as
Stephen," Carson explained.
    "How do you explain three people
having the same nightmare?" Julie asked.
    "I don't know. Whatever caused it
might have affected the same area in the brain producing the same
experience," Carson said.
    "Wouldn't you all have different
nightmares? I don't know any two people who have had the same
dreams. Maybe, you really died and went to hell and back," Julie
argued.
    "Anything is possible. But, I'd put
my money on a medical explanation," Carson said.
    "So you can't prove what happened
one way or another?" Julie asked.
    "Right now we can't, but I believe
we will eventually," Carson said.
    "The same nightmare is possible,
Julie," Stephen explained. "Especially since our patient was from
Ocean Village. Ocean Village is a highly religious community, and
one of the greatest fears would be to go to hell. It's probably
discussed every week in church, and stays on people's minds quite
of bit, don't you think? That would explain the three people having
the same nightmare. Perhaps, they feel guilty about something and
HFS just brought it out. You know, people interpret things the same
way by association. Since each patient was burned, saw something
they thought was fire, and experienced falling down, they logically
associated it with hell. For example, if I said murdered wife,
jealous husband, missing lover what conclusion do you
draw?"
    "The husband killed her and the
lover when he caught them in bed, and got rid of the lover's body,"
Julie answered.
    "Is that what everyone else
thought?" Stephen asked.
    Everyone looked at each other and
shook their heads.
    "Well, it's the same with the
Hellfire Syndrome. Whatever is causing these similar reactions is
causing the patients to draw the same conclusions about their
experience," Stephen explained.
    Carson moved closer to the
group.
    "I'm not highly religious and I
don't think about going to hell all the time," Carson said. "I had
the same experience as the others including the burned skin. How do
you explain that?"
    Linda perked up.
    "You can explain it anyway you
like, but I think it's all true. I think Carson and the others
really went to hell," Linda added. "I've read about near death
experiences and everyone says the same thing - about going up into
a great and peaceful light to heaven. Carson and the others said
they went down through a dark tunnel. They had negative near death
experiences and went to hell."
    "Now you're going beyond my field.
Can I get anyone a drink?" Gary asked and stood up.
    He took several orders and vanished
into the white food tent nearby.
    Linda's face turned into a scowl
and Carson looked searchingly at his wife.
    "But, you're saying if!" Stephen
said. "If there's a heaven, there's also a hell. We don't know if
either exists. I can document my theory with proven cases in
psychology. I proved it to all of you tonight with a few words and
everyone drew the same conclusion!"
    "I just believe there is a
spiritual realm, a life after death, and some things cannot be
explained away by medical research or scientific facts," Linda said
moving to the edge of her chair.
    Suddenly her eyes rolled and her
limp body rolled off the wicker chair, her face was buried in the
thick, grassy blades of the lawn. Carson rushed to her as did the
other doctors and checked her breathing and pulse. It was as if
they were all in the emergency room again. Linda awoke a few
seconds later groggy as if she were in a deep sleep.
    "What happened? Why am I on the
ground? I'm sorry," she said.
    "There's no need to be sorry,"
Carson said. "I'll call an ambulance."
    "Oh, no, I'm all right. It must be
the wine. I'm just tired. Let's go home. I don't want to go to the
hospital. I'll be all right," she protested.
    "I don't know," Carson said. "But
we're going to take some tests in the