The Phone

"Midway upon the journey of our life
  I found myself within a forest dark,
  For the straightforward pathway had been lost."--Canto I, The Inferno

"Lasciate ogni speranza, voi' ch'intrate"--reads the sign above the gate--Canto III

But what is hell? Is it everyday life with its disillusion, disappointments and boredom? And with the ephemeral pleasures of the flesh like eating and passion. Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso all have 33 cantos each. So hell doesn't dominate existence, but for the unrepentant sinner it's the last stop. Tolstoy ran away from Yasnaya Polyana and died alone in the Astopovo Station "He who is without sin cast the first stone"--John 8:7 . Waiting is the human predicament. No one is free of it and salvation is rarely what is sought.