72

by Christopher Barr

He thought about how Islam grows weak under the influence of the west and that it must remain strong as the best system for living in the world.  Islamic principles must come before all as Muslims are guided back to the message of the Quran.  Just before the bomb detonated he thought of the words of the great Sayyid Qutb, ‘Islam possesses or is capable of solving our basic problems…without doubt it will be more capable than any other system we may seek to borrow or imitate, to work in our nation.’

The bomb explodes, his body and face evaporate into nothingness along with 88 unknowing victims living their lives.  Suddenly he enters an unearthly realm as his body materializes back to its original form just minutes ago.  He is shocked, he is sweating as he looks back and sees a vortex leading to the bomb site on earth where he sees many bodies shredding and burning to death.  The vortex closes as he looks around, adjusting his eyes to the darker ambiance.

Part of his human sin was his fragment of doubt, but being here, he is able to confirm what he was taught to always believe, if he becomes a soldier of Islam he will be rewarded and his family will live care-free lives while he celebrates in paradise.  After the vortex closed and his eyes started to adjust to the atmosphere, he could see velvet couches all over the room, separated by small pillars holding up large bowls of grapes and at the bottom, raisins.  Sitting on the couches are 72 beautiful virgin girls all wearing long thinly laced frocks.

He looked around in amazement at his promised sex organs, as he thought, all those during his life that dissented upon what he knew to be true and real in the world.  They have their Christian gods, Hindu gods, or no gods at all, and here he was, in his paradise, not there’s.  He sat upon a velvet chair with an overwhelming sense of gratification as he looked up at the best, and most important parts of the Quran, all beautifully printed in Arabic across the entire ceiling.

After he looks at all the women and feels a sense of relief, he starts to think about what he’s going to do with so many of them.  He knew he had to martyr himself but he wasn’t dumb, he had a degree in engineering and aviation.  He was well-read and he knew women had their complications.  He looks back at the sealed area where he came through the vortex.  He then ate a couple of raisins and walks up to a couple of the women.  In his native tongue, he asks about them and then told them to sit on his lap.  Like automatons, they complied.  He asks them to tell him about their training but they don’t respond, they just look at him confused, he then asks them to rub his leg and they all scramble to be the first to rub it.  He asks them to talk about the weather and they say nothing, then he asks for a kiss and they all kiss him, some hitting each other in the head to do so.

Somewhat disorientated, he lies on one of the couches and falls asleep.  When he wakes up there are over two dozen of the women huddled around him, staring.  He looks up at them and slowly sits up as they all adjust themselves for his next command.  He says, ‘I’m hungry’ and they quickly leave the room and start to come back with plates of rice, pots of vegetables, and bowls of beef and fish. 

He looks at them as he takes his first bite and a number of them hand him a napkin.  He puts his food down and walks over to a triple queen size bed.  He lies down as some women look at him around the bed.  He figures he’ll at least have sex with them but when he instigates it, they don’t respond.  They don’t know what to do because they are virgins, and they have been imprisoned in this realm for the sole purpose of servicing him when he martyred himself.

They peculiarly start to rub his body and chest to the point of smothering him.  He can’t even tell whose hands are whose at this point.  144 hands are all forcing their way in on him, astounded, he slips away and jumps into a closet.   He sits in there and then orders them all to stand down and leave him alone.  He opens the door and they all jump him.  They tell him that their lives have been devoted to the day their ‘god’ would appear, and when that day comes, it was up to them to spoil him with the most lascivious lustfulness that they have to offer.   They said they believed that one day he would show up and here he is.  

He starts to push them away from himself as he makes his way to where the vortex closed on his world.  He bangs on the wall, desperately trying to open it, but yet to no avail.  “These phantasms are here and now and they want to do something to me.  I just want them gone…….”