Inspired by Chuck Wendig’s blog post on Terrible Minds, I’m going to write a fictional story about a man named Jack who embodies all seven of the deadly sins. I’ve never done one of these flash fiction challenges before so I’m really interested to see how this goes.

 

Hello, my name is Jack. And I am going to hell.

I know everyone has heard of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. They are the sins that determine ones place in the deadly underground known as hell.

Unfortunately, I’ve been blessed with the unlucky curse to embody all seven.

Lust whispers in my ear at night whenever I get into bed, asking me if I’m really going to go another night without a pretty woman in my bed. I try the best I can to ignore this voice, but it never goes away. So at night, I’m out, enjoying the nightlife and looking for another woman to add to my notch belt.

Gluttony slaps me in the face every time I eat. It asks if I’m really done eating that last plate. Whispers, are you sure you don’t want any more? like a lost lover. So I always go back for more until I’m sick with disgust at what all I’ve just eaten. But I still go back anyway, knowing I’m going to regret it later.

Greed can be found in all of my latest purchases. I shop like a woman at the mall, buying all of the latest and greatest gadgets for men. Even things I don’t need I purchase, knowing I’m not going to use them but feeling the need to have them anyway. I know I don’t need the money anyway because I make plenty of it.

Sloth follows me around like a lost puppy every time I go into work. I hate my job, so I make myself look busy around my coworkers. But once their backs are turned, I go back to being unproductive. I spend my work hours doing nothing but stare at my computer screen, wishing the day was already over so I could continue with this unproductivity back in my lonely apartment. I hate work and I hate life so I don’t see the point in doing anything productive anyway.

Wrath buzzes around in my head like an angry bee every time I drink. I’m an alcoholic at heart. Alcohol is the only thing that can numb my mind until I can feel nothing at all. But it also makes me aggressively angry about everything. So I take my anger out the best way I can: smashing and destroying everything directly in my path. This normally means my precious possessions get destroyed in the process, but I make plenty of money anyway and objects can always be replaced.

Envy is my best friend. I feel it with every fiber of my being whenever I see other people laughing or having a good time. I have no interests or hobbies other than drinking, sleeping with beautiful women and buying expensive things with the extravagant money I have at my disposal. I have so much, yet own nothing worthwhile. And wish more than anything for something more. So I’m envious at other’s fortune in life.

Pride comes as a reminder that I do have a lot in life. Look at all of the things you own, it whispers quietly in my ear. And pride is right. I do have a lot of nice things in life. I mean, how many men can say they have the latest and greatest things life can afford? How many men can buy the best alcohol money can get you and buy as much of it as there’s available? How many men can have sex and eat as much as they want and still go back for more? Pride hits me whenever I’m at my lowest, reminding me of all of the nice things I own and saying that I’m lucky because not too many people have what I do. And pride is right. Pride is always right.

Hello, my name is Jack. And these are all of the reasons why I am going to hell.