On a lonely Friday night, Maryanne travels at a steady pace down the right side of the highway, her legs screaming for cessation. The memory of the horrible act she has committed refuses to be stifled.

As she finally gives in to her legs' demands, she observes a far off set of lights behind her in the night. The vehicle comes gradually onward, revealing itself as an eighteen wheeler. The semi reaches her, and stops, its cab containing a man with an amazing amount of facial hair as black as the night. Its passenger door slowly opening, the truck's occupant inquires, "You need a ride somewhere?", to which the woman replies, "Phenwaa would be helpful". The driver nods slowly, and pats the seat next to him, so Maryanne settles on the seat and carefully closes the door. Without a word, the man gets the semi up to the speed limit: the silence isn't uncomfortable, somehow. "Name's Fred", the driver grunts after a few minutes. "I'm Maryanne, pleased to meet you", to which the driver grunts once more.

After a few hours of comfortable silence with extremely boring chatter in between (which I shall not torture you by repeating):

Out of the blue, completely surprising Maryanne, the man asks, "Why are you so troubled, Ma'am?".
"How did you know-"
"Your body language says it all"
"Well...I-I'm certainly not on the road to 'find myself'. I did a horrible thing, and I don't know quite what to do now, that's for sure..."
"Well, it can't be all that bad, what you did, can it?"
"If you must know...it all started when I got a poor grade in one of my classes. My father, he's always saying that he wants the best for me, but that I shall have to 'give it everything you've got'. Well, eventually he became extremely argumentative about every little thing, as if he wished to drive me away. So, one day after a particularly fierce argument, I told him, 'Your arguing is just a way of telling me you wish me gone, isn't it? Well fine, I shall leave, and may God bestow upon you a daughter worthy of your approval. For all I care, you can rot in hell.' Oh, I saw the hurt in his body language, just as you've seen my troubles in mine. But I was far too angry to notice it. What kind of a person...what foul, nasty creature says that kind of thing? I can't go back, I just can't.
"Well...It seems to me that sin is a ridiculous notion, and that the concept of God is just a crutch for weak, foolish human beings who are slaves to "morality" and "ethics". Why shouldn't a man, or a woman for that matter, be able to do anything they want?
"...Because such a world would be chaotic, and what chance would you have of being able to do what you want if everyone else could kill you or oppress you? What if God is real, and you faced horrible pain and fear in Hell?"

On a poster in a lamppost in Phenwaa: Wanted: A murderer, calling himself Fred Amos, has escaped from Phenwaa county prison. He is the murderer and rapist of 12 women to date and is extremely violent. Under no circumstances should he be approached or confronted. Call the police immediately if you see him.

Fred gets off the highway, and pulls into the parking lot of an all-night diner, not speaking for a few minutes, and Maryanne waits patiently.

Suddenly, Fred admits to Maryanne, "Perhaps you're right. I've always been afraid that God probably does exist, and I certainly wouldn't want to go to hell. It seems to me that if there is a God, he's probably extremely strict. If God is angry at you for such a small sin, he's probably just waiting to get his hands on me, for I have committed much bigger sins. So, starting right now, I'm going sin-free. I guess there's just one more thing I need to do to before I start over."
With that, he pulls out a revolver and and blows her brains out, stating, "You're probably angry with me, but I had to free you from the reigns of evil. If I had let you live, who knows how much worse your sinful acts would become. Don't worry about the truck", (for her blood has splattered all over the cab, as well as some of her brain and bones) "The woman who drove this truck had horrible tastes anyway, so it's lucky I inherited it."

The next morning, Saturday, Thomas Rancor, the 60 year old father of Maryanne, gets a letter in the mail.

Dear Mr. Rancor,

I'm afraid I have had to kill your daughter, Maryanne. This is to prevent her from committing further atrocious acts of a sinful nature. I'd like to let you know I killed her mercifully, simply blowing her brains out. I'm afraid I need to tell you that, unfortunately, your daughter's confession of her horrible sin resulted in my truck's cab being stained a permanent red color: my truck no longer has any retail value and I have had to burn it (Arson for benevolent purposes isn't a punishable sin, is it?). You shouldn't feel any guilt for this: I knew I wouldn't be able to convince Maryanne to come outside of the truck, and I am really the person most responsible for my truck's condition. I hope you are satisfied with how I have dealt with your daughter.

May your sins not catch up to you, and may you commit no sinful acts in the future,

God's most vicious avenger

Thomas Rancor promptly dies of a heart attack, from shock, and who the hell knows where his soul resides now.

After the passage of 100 years or so...

After her death, Mr. Amos was never linked to Maryanne's horrible end, and with the help of plastic surgery managed to disguise himself. Thereafter, he worked as a doctor and saved the lives of hundreds, never committing a significantly sinful act ever again. Nonetheless, when he died and was judged by God, he was sent to hell anyway. It turns out that God is very strict, and that it takes little to be sent to Hell. Fred was happily surprised to find Maryanne in the underworld's depths, and Maryanne was happily surprised to find him too (for she didn't blame him in the least, and thought from the moment she left the world of the living, "I only got what I deserved"). It also turns out that the devil isn't all that evil, and is happy to let Hell's residents do whatever they wish, and he is dedicated to helping all the souls in Hell enjoy themselves as best as they can. He was loved by the big sinners and the small sinners alike...THE END?...