The Labors of Hercules Beal

by Gary D. Schmidt

You know, you know, people think that hell is all these flames and stuff, and demons running around, and all that. It’s not. It’s freezing, freezing cold, and nothing is moving.

I called Elly later that night. Most of the time we just sort of cried together. And when we were done, we were both still here.

Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don’t have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold it up too. Maybe that’s how we can get by. Maybe that’s how we can do a whole lot better than just get by.