The Girl, back bent under the weight of an over-sized bag-pack, walks slowly across the cracked parched ground. She walks in a straight line, Her gaze steadfast, focused on the far distance.
The Sun hammers down relentlessly, but the Girl is oblivious to the sweat trickling down Her body. One step at a time, She ploughs on in a straight line.
The Devil, tall and suave, saunters behind. With a pair of deadly horns that have skewered many a soul and a forked tail rhythmically swishing behind Him, the Devil follows the Girl. His cloven hooves strum their intentions within Her footprints. His razor sharp pitchfork wickedly reflects the Sun’s glare.
The Devil confidently follows the Girl.
And if the Girl knows, or can hear Him, She doesn’t show it. One step at a time, She walks straight on.
Suddenly Her step falters; She gazes at the infinite aridness that surrounds Her and an almost imperceptible sliver of doubt swims in her eyes. A blink, and it’s gone.
The Devil smiles, for He saw what He saw.
The Girl looks calmly upon the Devil. “I know you”
“And I you”, replies the Devil, pausing in his stride. “I’ve known you for all this Time and even before your Time began.”
The Girl appraises the Devil. “Why do you follow me?”
“To keep you safe…to keep you close”
“You protect me then?” the Girl cocks Her head, a weary smile in Her voice.
“I protect you”
“From what?”
“From what is out there…from what you do not know”
“But why do you follow me…why don’t you walk with me?”
“In the beginning, the distance between us was vast”. The Devil swirls His wicked pitchfork through the crusty air, emphasizing His point. “But now…now I am closer to you.”
He caresses His pitchfork; His gleaming eyes caress the Girl.
The Girl shivers.
“Closer? But not yet…?”
“Not yet” agrees the Devil
“Then when?” The Girl shifts the heavy load on Her back to balance the weight.
“When you give up what you’re looking for.”
And then…
“Will you?” asks the Devil, His voice soft, warm…embracing.
For a moment Time holds its breath. The air, the ground, the brittle limbs of long-dead trees…the Devil…they all wait for Her answer.
The Girl’s heart beats harder, Her blood flows quicker…Her Soul sees a millions things She hasn’t seen before. She gazes upon the Devil with an apologetic promise.
“I can’t”.
“Why not?” Daggers of ice-cold hardness drip from the Devil’s voice.
“Through all my Time here I’ve walked in circles; bruised my body and my soul on sharp corners within those circles. Now…now I want to walk a straight line.”
“Let me help”, bargains the Devil
The Devil stretches one hand towards the Girl, an indulgent smile lights up His conniving face.
“Take my hand and you’ll be safe I promise…pain-free I guarantee. No sharp corners, no bruises. Within those circles we’ll walk together…we’ll find a Nirvana that only I can create.”
The Girl smiles sadly; several Lifetimes of irreparable, broken promises.
“Wealth…success…power…passion…all of that can be yours if only….?”
The Devil’s voice strains to stoke the glowing embers within the Girl’s lonely soul.
The Girl lowers Her head to hide the memory. “I’ve had all that…and yet…”
Her contrite whisper mingles with the dust.
The Devil wills Her to crumble.
Not today.
The Girl raises Her head. Her eyes flash a forgotten fire. “I’ve had all of that several times over and yet it’s depleted me. I feel empty…I am empty. I have to…I need to find Him.”
The Devil’s outstretched hand falls to His side. A tide of unnamed emotion surges over His face.
“Please understand. Please?” begs the Girl
“Trust me?” The Devil begs back.
The Girl drifts in a pool of silent Memories; for a few minutes, Now, is forgotten.
The Devil is still. His swishing tail and glinting pitchfork are still.
Arid earth…dust-crusted air…brittle trees.
All still…
Two pulsing Heartbeats pierce the silent shroud.
Two pulsing heartbeats; the Devil’s and the Girl’s.
Thump…
Thump…
Thump…
‘Trust me’
‘I’ve trusted before…and again…and again…and again…’
‘Once more…you won’t regret it…’
‘Broken promises…shards of splintered trust…I’m exhausted’
‘Then rest…stop searching for something…someone who doesn’t exist’
‘They told me I should find Him…They told me He does’
‘They? They? I own them all…They lead you astray…They know nothing!’
‘I’ve lost everything…I’ve lost Myself…’
‘But I’ve found you every time you needed to be found’
‘He knows me…’
‘I know you better’
‘He has the blueprint of my life’
‘We don’t need a Blueprint…we’ll make one together! Just trust…please trust…’
‘I need…I must find Him’
‘And if you can’t?’
‘He’ll find me’
‘And if He doesn’t?’
‘He’ll find me’
‘Are you sure?’
‘He’ll find me’
‘How???’
‘I don’t know…all I know is that He’ll find me…somehow…somewhere…He’ll find me’
‘Wait here with me? Let Him find you!’
‘I must walk on… meet Him halfway’
‘But why? Why???’
‘So that He knows I want to be found’
Silence.
And then…
‘Come with me?’
A gentle breeze stirs the arid dryness that surrounds the Devil and the Girl.
Six feet of parched earth gutted with the Girl’s footprints lies between them.
“Come with me”, says the Girl out loud.
The Devil stares in silence over the Girl’s shoulder, at the almost opaque Horizon where storm clouds appear to be consulting.
“Come with me”, repeats the Girl. “You need to find Him too.”
The breeze, growing stronger by the minute, whips the Girl’s greasy travel worn hair across Her face.
With legs parted in a brazen stance, the Devil proudly flings back His horned head. His tail curves up in a mighty arc whilst His evil pitchfork mocks the fading Sun; His face and muscled strength exude a taut confident evil.
A bolt of Lightning streaking across the sky emphasizes a cloven-footed demonic Magnificence who roars with laughter at a Girl’s impudence.
A clap of Thunder promises sweet hydration; the arid earth, dust-crusted air and brittle trees rejoice, as tiny droplets of moisture break free from the darkened sky.
The Girl ignores the drizzle. “Well?”
The Devil slowly subdues the mirth from His eyes. “I don’t need Him and never will.”
“But once you did”, She reminds him.
A rivulet of Memory replaces the arrogance in the Devil’s eyes.
“Once I did.”
Minutes drag on. The drizzle turns into rain as the Past drapes over the Devil like an inky black velvet cloak.
Once upon a time, in another Lifetime, the Devil was a mortal Man. He had a small neat home, a loving faithful wife and a beautiful chaste daughter. With a regular income in Real Estate and the loyalty and respect of his friends and colleagues, the Man was hardworking, clever and honest. He laughed, loved, and lived; the Man was content.
Then one day the Man crossed paths with Temptation. Temptation was aggressive, persistent, and successful. Discontent and greed set in; the Man wanted more. Temptation made the Man a deal; his daughter in exchange for all that Temptation could give him. The Man didn’t hesitate, and the deal was clinched over expensive champagne and wanton celebration.
Temptation kept its promise. The Man wallowed in wealth, power and success. He wanted more. And more he got. But all the wealth, power and success in the world couldn’t prevent what was to be. His beautiful daughter, corrupted and shamed by Temptation, consumed a bottle of special Malt whiskey and willingly slipped over the balcony of her father’s Penthouse. The Man’s wife…his loving faithful wife, twisted by hatred for her husband’s deeds, plotted to kill him one sunny morning, but instead, as the Man forked scrambled eggs, rich crisped bacon and honeyed toast into his mouth, she blew her brains out all over the Wheat Bran cornflakes still cooling in their bowls.
The seeds of decline sown, Temptation gloated at the Man’s descent into further depravity, until all that was left of the former Mortal was this demonic mockery.
The Girl listens in silence whilst the rain gathers momentum around Them.
“I lost everything I knew…including Him. My Soul shredded beyond despair…My mind…My heart…My body…all twisted and knotted beyond repair.”
The Devil, face contorted with rekindled pain, falls to His knees and groans. “This is Me now. The only Me I know!”
The Girl’s tears mingle with the fallen rain. She stretches out a hand and pleads gently. “Come with me? Let’s find Him together.”
Hope ignites…subsides in the Devil’s tormented eyes. He shakes His head.
The Devil curls up like a foetus, the drenched earth is His womb.
A brief moment of hesitation ensues as the Girl stares pitifully at the prostrate Devil…She reluctantly bows Her head against the wind and walks away over the rain soaked earth in a straight line.
“Wait!”
The Devil, broken and disheveled, slowly shuffles towards the Girl. His proud tail and pitchfork, humbled by His cathartic confession, drag heavily through the soggy muck. He hesitates as the distance closes between Them; habit overcomes Him.
The Girl smiles gently and stretches out Her hand.
“Side by side…together We’ll find Him.”
Along the way, the Girl discards Her heavy, now made heavier by the rain, back-pack. All Her worldly possessions contained within that back-pack flung away in the dirt and rain. Her shoulders straighten; She walks tall and strong towards the Unknown.
“I don’t need this anymore”, muses the Devil as He lets His pitchfork, His razor sharp pitchfork that reflects the Sun and now the Rain…He lets His pitchfork drop from His fingers.
The Storm screams its fury and throws down daggers of liquid iron. The Wind howls its dissent and does its best to keep the Duo from Their path.
The Girl grabs the Devils hand. “Hold on!’” She screams above the frenzied cacophony; They plough on in a straight line, step by struggling step.
The Storm weeps stinging tears of icy fire and spitefully mauls the Devil’s Horns and Tail from His body. Blood and relief seep from the Devil as He ignores the pain and grips the Girl’s hand tighter.
And so, the Devil and the Girl, plough on through the wind and the rain, leaving two sets of footprints…yes, the cloven hoofs were hooves no more…two sets of muddy footprints in Their wake.
Together…hand in hand…they plough on in a straight line…the Devil and the Girl merge into the Unknown, seeking God.