In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

81 Kirby฀and฀the฀Portal฀to฀Hell When฀ they฀ discovered฀ that฀ the฀ portal฀ to฀ Hell฀ actually฀ was฀ in฀ Las ฀Vegas,฀no฀one฀in฀town฀really฀was฀all฀that฀surprised.฀“I฀mean,”฀said฀ a฀local฀in฀one฀newscast,฀“where฀else฀would฀it฀be?฀I฀just฀hope฀it฀doesn’t฀ hurt฀the฀housing฀market฀too฀much.”฀And฀in฀fact฀it฀didn’t.฀After฀years฀of฀a฀ steadily฀declining฀economy,฀entire฀neighborhoods฀going฀into฀foreclosure,฀ banks฀closing฀left฀and฀right,฀major฀casinos฀laying฀off฀anyone฀who฀wasn’t฀ locked฀into฀a฀union,฀Hell฀was฀exactly฀what฀Las฀Vegas฀needed. As฀soon฀as฀the฀portal฀was฀discovered,฀behind฀a฀vending฀machine฀at฀ the฀ dilapidated฀ Silver฀ Angel฀ Motel,฀ Gene฀ Banks฀ promptly฀ bought฀ the฀ property฀and฀started฀erecting฀Inferno,฀a฀Hell-themed฀casino฀with฀the฀portal ฀ at฀ its฀ heart.฀ Oh,฀ it฀ would฀ be฀ glorious,฀ the฀ papers฀ boasted,฀ showing฀ sketches฀ of฀ the฀ harpy฀ uniforms฀ the฀ cocktail฀ waitresses฀ would฀ wear฀ on฀ the฀front฀page฀of฀the฀Sunday฀edition.฀The฀hotel฀promised฀more฀than฀five thousand฀new฀jobs,฀a฀spectacular฀buffet,฀and฀an฀opportunity฀to฀view฀the฀ portal฀itself.฀As฀soon฀as฀it฀was฀announced,฀tourism฀exploded฀once฀again.฀ Empty฀rooms฀were฀booked,฀and฀property฀was฀being฀claimed.฀Hell฀was฀the฀ answer.฀Everyone฀in฀Vegas฀was฀happy. Kirby฀wasn’t฀happy. Kirby฀had฀been฀trying฀to฀hide฀the฀portal฀for฀years.฀He’d฀found฀it฀while฀ searching฀for฀coins฀to฀buy฀a฀candy฀bar.฀Kirby฀always฀searched฀for฀coins฀ behind฀this฀particular฀vending฀machine฀because฀there฀was฀always฀exact฀ change฀back฀there.฀If฀he฀needed฀fifty cents฀for฀a฀candy฀bar,฀he฀would฀find it.฀If฀he฀needed฀$1.25฀for฀some฀chips฀and฀a฀can฀of฀soda,฀it฀would฀be฀waiting .฀Kirby฀had฀learned฀in฀life฀not฀to฀question฀things.฀Things฀often฀left฀him฀ confused. Then฀one฀day฀he฀noticed฀something฀on฀the฀wall.฀He฀was฀huddled฀in฀ BLISS ESPOSITO 82 ♥ B L I S S E S P O S I T O the฀ corner฀ unwrapping฀ the฀ 3฀ Musketeers฀ he’d฀ just฀ bought.฀ He฀ liked฀ 3฀ Musketeers฀because฀he฀could฀slide฀his฀finger inside฀and฀wiggle฀it฀around฀ in฀the฀creamy฀nougat.฀But฀just฀before฀he฀broke฀the฀seal฀of฀chocolate฀on฀ the฀bar฀with฀the฀broad฀tip฀of฀his฀finger,฀something฀else฀caught฀his฀attention .฀It฀was฀on฀the฀wall฀behind฀the฀vending฀machine,฀about฀chest฀level.฀ It฀was฀the฀size฀of฀a฀pin,฀and฀gave฀the฀impression฀of฀blue฀and฀red.฀Most฀ people฀probably฀would฀have฀missed฀it,฀but฀Kirby฀knew฀the฀back฀of฀this฀ machine฀like฀the฀back฀of฀his฀hand:฀the฀linoleum฀turning฀up฀with฀potato฀ chip฀edges฀along฀the฀wall,฀the฀brown฀and฀yellow฀water฀stain,฀the฀family฀ of฀cockroaches฀that฀waved฀their฀antennas฀at฀him฀every฀morning. And฀now฀this฀strange฀dot฀right฀in฀the฀middle฀of฀everything. He฀reached฀out฀to฀touch฀it,฀he฀liked฀touching฀things฀with฀his฀finger,฀ but฀he฀knew฀somehow฀that฀now฀was฀not฀the฀time,฀and฀he฀pulled฀his฀arm฀ slowly฀back. Kirby฀ began฀ spending฀ the฀ majority฀ of฀ his฀ days฀ hanging฀ around฀ the฀ corridor฀ staring฀ at฀ the฀ slit฀ of฀ space฀ between฀ the฀ wall฀ and฀ the฀ vending฀ machine,฀ where฀ the฀ hole฀ grew฀ a฀ little฀ each฀ day.฀ Once฀ in฀ a฀ while,฀ the฀ manager฀of฀the฀Silver฀Angel฀would฀come฀around฀and฀shoo฀him฀away฀but฀ other฀than฀that฀pretty฀much฀left฀him฀alone.฀Kirby฀didn’t฀cause฀trouble฀ like฀the฀others฀and฀never฀kicked฀or฀punched฀the฀vending฀machine฀to฀get฀ something฀for฀free. Then฀ one฀ day,฀ after฀ many฀ months฀ of฀ gazing,฀ he฀ realized฀ that฀ the฀ impression฀of฀blue฀and฀red,฀swirling฀together฀like฀Easter฀egg฀dyes฀before฀ they฀ mixed,฀ had฀ become฀ actual฀ colors.฀ Suddenly฀ he฀ wanted฀ to฀ touch฀ it,฀like฀nothing฀else฀he฀had฀ever฀touched.฀Pressing฀the฀side฀of฀his฀head฀ against฀the฀wall฀as฀hard฀as฀he฀could,฀he฀could฀tell฀that฀the฀hole฀was฀bigger ,฀maybe฀big฀enough฀to฀get฀his฀finger into.฀He฀had฀to฀see฀what฀this฀lack฀ of฀space,฀concentration฀of฀energy,฀hole฀in฀the฀wall,฀felt฀like. He฀looked฀up฀and฀down฀the฀motel฀corridor.฀An฀icy฀desert฀breeze฀cut฀ the฀warmth฀of฀the฀machine.฀He฀jostled฀the฀vending฀machine,฀once,฀twice.฀ Then฀he฀slammed฀the฀side฀with฀all฀of฀his฀ninety-eight฀pounds.฀He฀did฀it฀ again.฀He฀just฀needed฀an฀inch฀or฀two.฀He฀pushed฀and฀pushed฀until฀the฀ vending฀machine฀squealed฀against฀the฀concrete฀floor.฀He฀tried฀his฀arm฀to฀ discover฀that฀he฀had฀enough฀room฀to฀reach฀the฀hole. Kirby฀licked฀his฀dry฀lips฀and...

Share