I Went to Hell to Find Catherine

This is based on a true story.  It was so long ago that some of the smaller details are difficult to remember.

During Junior High, I had a Choir Director.  She reminded me of Susan Sarandon when she was younger (especially in the movie, Chrystal Palace)  – Catherine had fire red hair; kinda cheap looking.  She dressed in a very provocative manner for a High School Choir Teacher.  The was very vocal and loud (she was an alcoholic, married to a Judge in Ft. Worth TX who ran around on her.)  He literally, drove her to drink.  With her confidence shattered, she flirted with other men who taught at the school.  I had already left Ft Worth when I heard that one night she committed suicide.

I was 21 and living in Dallas at the time when I heard about it.

I felt sad.  I didn't hear quickly enough to go to her funeral.

About two weeks later, I was standing out overlooking the pool and heard a blood curdling scream.  I ran outside — no one was there.  However, it was so loud that I knew someone needed help.  I called the police.

They checked door to door.  Couldn't find anything.

That night.  I had a very strange life-like dream.

I dreamed Catherine was crying for me to come and get her (out of hell — she had been a practicing Catholic).

In my dream, I went down into this horrible horrible deep pit in the earth.  I searched through various weird rock-walled rooms hearing screams of others to get out along with seeing horrible creatures but for some reason they didn't come near me (something like you see on horror movies on TV).

I don't know why I wasn't afraid.  I knew they were not allowed to touch me.

I found Catherine.  She was a horrible mess.

I took her hand.  She clung to me.  I walked her through the horrid halls back to where I came in.  I Felt lost but I didn't dare tell her that.  Then I saw this beam of light shining from the surface that seemed to bend through the halls to find us.

I followed it.  As we looked up to the mouth of the entrance to the pit — back to Earth above us.  There was a huge bright white light that literally pulled us back upward to the top.

When I woke, I was deathly ill with this horrible stench in my room.  I was throwing up and had fever and severe weaknesses in all my limbs.

A knock came at my door.  It was a new friend, Ann, who lived across the pool from me.  I don't know the name of the Holy Men within the Jewish Religion.  This Rabbi had been contacted by the Holy Men who warned this Rabbi to find me (and he came straight to my friend Ann and told her to warn me "She is into dark places she shouldn't be going — it is very dangerous) — he SAW everything I had experienced.

Ann Delivered the message.  And, to this day — I have never figured out how they knew — how they knew it was me.  How they knew it was "Ann's friend."

There are a couple more very strange stories.  This one has always remained with me.