Quietly, Quiggly stepped into the darkness as he stealthily approached and steeled himself for a confrontation. He wanted to get in there to stop this madness, to show his strength and power and take out all the monsters and demons. He moved closer to the opening. "You're about to get crushed," Quiggly said. "Then what are you waiting for? Get out of here!" shouted the demon with the huge muscles. "Nope." Without warning, Quiggly whipped out his two-by-four and hit the big guy over the head with it, knocking him out cold. He'd knocked the beast right into the pit of his own making. What Quiggly didn't know was that some of the demons had survived his attack and were now all over him, pouncing on him. There were twenty of them. They jumped up and began beating Quiggly to the ground. Quiggly couldn't put up much of a defense. His arms had been weakened by his injuries. And those who were pinning down the little guy were strong. Even Quiggly thought they had the guy. He thought they were finally going to get a piece of him. One of them grabbed Quiggly's ponytail and yanked him back. They all laughed as they raised their fists and prepared to punch Quiggly in the face with great ferocity. Suddenly, an odd thing happened. A voice boomed in the air. "Stop right there!" The voice was loud and authoritative, a heavenly voice that commanded a great deal of authority. All the demons froze and then turned to see who had come to save the day. "Whoever you are," the voice continued, "God has sent me to save you." The demons turned and saw a man standing right behind them. "You are the reason why they're here. You are the reason you are being cursed. The reason you are being bound. The reason you are in the hole." "Who are you?" one of them asked. "Let me in," he said. The demons, confused, held their ground for a moment, and then one stepped aside and let him in. The small voice cried out again. "Get him!" But it was too late. They weren't listening. "I'm here to offer you a way out of your bondage." The man said. The demons just stared at him. They didn't know what to think. "I can lead you out of your pit if you will follow me," the man continued. The demons got excited. "If this is a trick, we'll kick you into the hole. We can't let you take our spot," one demon shouted. The small voice still cried out. "Don't listen to him. He is lying. He is the enemy," it cried out. The demons ignored the small voice. "He's too weak to lead us. I will not follow a guy like that," the demon said. "Look," the man said. "This whole area is cursed. We are in our own pit. There's nothing that can get us out of here. You have to choose. You can either sit here and starve to death or follow me out of this. It's your choice." The small voice cried out. "Don't listen to this man. He is deceiving you. They are good, if they told you they weren't. Believe me. But follow this man, and it will all be for nothing," the small voice said. "You will find that your pit will get deeper and deeper. You are in it now. And you will be in it for a very long time. This man is a deceiver and is leading you astray." Quiggly was listening carefully to what the voices were saying. The small voice kept contradicting everything that was happening. He wasn't sure what to believe, but he was beginning to have his own thoughts and was starting to wonder why the man had chosen him as the recipient for his message. There was something going on, and he didn't want to believe what he was seeing right now. But as he listened to these demons, he became confident about what he was seeing. He was sure that this was what he was supposed to do. It didn't make sense to him now, but it made sense to him at the time. He hadn't paid attention to what the man was saying because he was so caught up in the words that the little voice was saying. The demons started to argue about what to do. Some wanted to follow the man. Others wanted to stay where they were. Quiggly was relieved. This wasn't so hard after all. He was amazed at the things they were saying. This was so amazing. The demons were really talking like human beings. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all. "Quiggly was so captivated by what the man had to say that he just sat there and didn't do anything to save himself. He was content to watch what happened. He felt sorry for the poor souls who followed the man. But he wasn't so sure he was doing the right thing. After all, he had been a little boy. The demons started to argue again. Some of them agreed that they should follow the man, and some didn't. They wanted to go to the right instead of the left. But it was getting late. The darkness was coming. The sun was beginning to set. The demons had made their choice. But they didn't have a clue as to what they were getting into. "In time, they heard the voice say that it was getting late, and they should make their way out of the pit. The demons started to make their way out and were wondering what would be next. But then, they stopped. The voice said that they should sit back down and be quiet. They shouldn't do that. The voice said that they should lay down. The demons started to complain. They wanted to know why they had to lay down and sit back down. The voice just kept telling them to be quiet and lay down. They obeyed and laid down and shut up and followed them out of the pit. It wasn't long before Quiggly heard the demons approaching. Quiggly was afraid. What was he going to do? He still wasn't certain if this was what he wanted. He was still praying. He wanted his brother back. "Quiggly, who are you?" "Quiggly, what are you doing here?" "Quiggly, do you want to play?" "Quiggly, come on. Let's play." "Quiggly, I got your doll. How did it happen? Can I talk to you?" "Quiggly, are you a real man?" Quiggly felt humiliated. He didn't know what to do. What were they doing here? He just wanted to get out of the pit. He didn't want to be anywhere near these monsters. "Quiggly, come on. Come and play." "Quiggly, what do you think about this, man?" Quiggly felt small again. He just wanted to find his brother and leave. "Quiggly, how about a little competition?" "Quiggly, it's getting late. Are you sure you want to play games?" "Quiggly, why are you trying to get me away from the fire?" "Quiggly, the girls are getting cold. Can I have one of your cookies?" "Quiggly, I want to play some more." "Quiggly, can I have a cookie?" Quiggly didn't have the energy to argue. "Yes." He was tired of all the questions and their demands. They were just going to have to deal with it, he thought. He was just going to have to deal with them. "Quiggly, we've got a game," one of the demons said. Quiggly just wanted them to leave. He didn't know how much more he could take. He felt like a child again. They all laughed. "I said it's getting late. If you are gonna play, you have to lay down." Quiggly wanted to scream and run away. He didn't want to play anymore. "We want to play with you," they said. "I don't want to play with you," Quiggly said. "What do you mean? You played with us before." "We want to play, man." "We'll play until we're tired, then we'll go to sleep." Quiggly thought that he was doomed. This wasn't what he wanted. "I don't want to play." "Then we're going to sit and keep playing with you," they said. "I don't want to play." "Quiggly, why do you act like that? We're only trying to have a little fun with you," one of the demons said. "I don't want to play." "Quiggly, we're just playing with you, that's all," they said. "I don't want to play." "Quiggly, why are you acting like this