What do you think about the underworld? What does it look like? Who lives there? When Odysseus went to Hades (the underworld), to his surprise he saw ghosts of people like his mother. After hearing about Odysseus and his experience, I went down to the underworld as well to answer all of my questions. In a split second, I knew Hades wasn’t going to be such an exciting place to stay. I had chills going down my back and many uncanny feelings. There were many dangers lurking around, from deadly animals, to everything evil you could have imagined; but the worst part was the presence of ghosts destined to an eternity of despair. All of the ghosts were asking me about their loved ones and relatives still living; not knowing who they were, I ignored them. As the time passed, I saw three figures that I seemed to recognize. It hit me. They were Adolf Hitler from World War II, one of the terrorists from September 11th, 2001, and Benjamin Franklin. I was afraid as they came close to me, but it was my chance to ask them my questions.

“I first met with Adolf Hitler, who is the embodiment of evil and yet strangely... he seemed rather friendly.” He came up to me and began asking me questions as if I was some friend of his. I first asked Adolf, “How did he get to the underworld and how long he has been here?” He was hesitant in telling me, but I assured him it was all right. He began by telling me how seventy years ago when he lost his power and died without having a burial, he was sent through a tunnel shaped figure which led him straight down to Hades. I realized it was the perfect opportunity to lead into a question of why he killed so many? I asked him about it, and he just stood there and stared at me. I knew it was a tough question for him to answer and I didn’t know if he was going to tell me either. After a long pause, he said that all people in the world should be blond and blue eyed people. “I thought it would fix all the problems in Germany and be a solution to fix the problems of the massive immigration of gypsies, Jews, and every other ethnic group.” I saw him getting a bit fidgety and nervous when he was talking to me; I still knew that he was hiding a stronger message which he wasn’t going to tell. I asked him again the same question, he repeated the answer. I told him that he had a more truthful answer. “I was deprived of love and care when I was a young child; I didn’t have the care of parents like the other kids had so when I grew up, I wanted respect.” This was eye-opening, which opened up a door to so many more questions, but it was time to move on. I told him that I appreciated his time with me and walked away, then looked around and see him gone.

There was one bearded man who was secluded from the other ghosts; he looked like one of the terrorists of September 11th. I went over to talk to him, but it seemed like he wanted to be alone. He looked up at me and said, “Who are you and want do you want?” I told him that I was from the world above and wanted some people to answer my questions. He didn’t seem interested, but I went on by asking him if he was one of the terrorists of 9/11. He responded reluctantly by saying he was. I asked him why he wanted to do such a terrible act which killed so many innocent people. He mumbled, “It wasn’t my idea, but my leader to attack and kill all those people.” He said that he didn’t have a choice, because if he didn’t do it he would have been killed by the other terrorists in his group. I felt very uncomfortable and didn’t want to hear any more, so I left him alone.

The last of the three people I saw in Hades was Benjamin Franklin. He seemed to be a fine person in his time and reading in the history books it showed that he was a successful person. I remembered the kite incident where he was electrocuted by lightning while trying to discover electricity. I went up to him and asked, “Are you Benjamin Franklin?”
In an old English accent he said, “Yes, but a better question is who are you ol’ chap?” I told him I’m from the world above and here to ask some questions about the people of Hades. “So, why are you here in the underworld? Your soul didn’t get buried?” He looked at me and told me that he doesn’t remember anything, except that he was electrocuted, and that in his mind he does not deserve to be here. I started to tell him about his life. He was a very successful inventor; he invented the bifocals, the iron furnace stove, and was the first to discover electricity. He began to smile, and looked at me and said, “I think I recall what you’re talking about, o yes I do!” He was gleaming in joy then said, “Because you helped me remember my past, I’ll tell you the way to find success. The way I learned and discovered all these inventions was by failing but I still kept trying. This mentality, in my opinion, helped me be the person who I used to be." I just stood there taking it all in, what he said made a lot of sense and I thanked him for his advice. I knew it was getting late, and I needed to get out of Hades. He told me to come back, and kindly smiling back I left with my goodbye.

After meeting with some other ghosts in Hades, I knew it was time to come back to earth. Looking at the underworld for the last time before my departure, I prayed that I never come back again. I came back to earth in awe that my trip only lasted for five minutes. Thinking about what the ghosts said, I understood more about life and how accidents and events can leave people lives in peril for eternity if their souls aren’t put in a proper burial. I received my answers that I looked for and in that I learned the following: perseverance, not falling under peer-pressure, and lastly, reconsidering a person’s actions because they might have a reason for what they did. After seeing the people of the underworld, I just hope that when I die I am sent to a proper burial and my soul rests in peace.