Let’s Make a Deal

As I look back on the events of the last three days, I still can’t believe how fast my life has spiraled out of control. Everyone says a deal is a deal and once made, there is no going back. Most times I would agree, but let me explain what happened and see if you understand why I must renege.

The economy was in the toilet, and everyone thought that finding a job was mission impossible. Until three days ago, I was one of the fortunate ones who still went to work every day. It wasn’t much of a job loading freight onto trucks, but it kept a roof over our heads and food on the table.

My wife and I were expecting our first child in six weeks, so this was no time to be without work, which is what I told my boss when he handed me a layoff notice. He explained that corporate had closed the terminal and everyone, including him, was being let go. Disheartened, angry, and unable to fathom how to break the news to my wife, I manned my fork truck for the last time.

Tonight, it was my assignment to load items being shipped from the local museum to a larger one in another state. The local facility had closed because of a lack of funding. Times were tough for everyone. I spent the better part of the shift loading these ancient artifacts, carefully positioning them to prevent any damage during transit. The work was tedious, but as it was my last shift, I wanted it to be perfect.

The last truckload of artifacts pulled away. I went back to sweep out the empty section of the warehouse when I spotted a tattered book wedged behind some storage racking. The only word I could read on the partially destroyed cover was Dead. My boss said to keep it or throw it out, it was up to me. I tossed it on the front seat of my car and went back inside to finish the shift.

The drive home was agonizing. I needed more time to work out just how to break the news to my wife, so instead of going home, I stopped at a nearby park. A jet-black sky was the perfect backdrop for millions of twinkling stars dancing in a cloudless sky. The moon glowed majestically in its fullness, casting a dim light on my surroundings. Unable to find a solution on my own, I prayed for an answer. After a half-hour of praying, all I heard was crickets. Praying never worked for me before, so why should it start now?

Still undecided about what to do, I picked up the tattered book and flipped through the pages. Initially, the symbols made no sense, but as I stared at them, the cyphers morphed into English. The sentences slithered across the page, moving the way a snake hypnotizes its prey. My mind lapsed into a trance, and I mumbled a series of words repeatedly. Clouds appeared from nowhere and formed the outline of a head with pointy horns and eyes that were illuminated by the moon. The apparition spoke to me.

“My friend, I’m here to help you out of an unpleasant situation. You have something I want and I have something you need. I propose we make a deal.”

“Let me guess, this is where you ask for my soul. In exchange, you’ll set me up with a new job. Sorry, demon, you’ll need to do better than that.”

“My friend, you hurt me with your allegations. What I offer you is the location of five chests of gold hidden during the Civil War. All I ask in return is that you keep the book safe and read specific passages from it when I require you to. Your soul has little value to me. It’s the souls of the rich and powerful that I want. You can help me attain them by using that book. Do we have a deal?”

Five chests of gold will secure my family’s future for a lifetime. How could I say no? Now it was time to share the night’s events with my wife. She wasn’t nearly as excited as I thought she would be. In fact, she shook with fear, terrified that I had made a deal with the devil. Her protests fell on deaf ears. I knew she would change her mind when she held some gold in her hands. Now I needed to find a map and locate the gold.

I followed the map to a man-made lake close to town. The beast told me the gold was in a cave. What he didn’t say was the cave was under two hundred feet of water. Anger raged through my body as I grabbed the book and summoned the demon.

“The deal is off,” I shouted. “You never told me about the lake.”

“The deal was that I tell you where the gold is located. How you retrieve it is your problem. I kept my part of the bargain.”

After thinking for a moment, I replied, “My part of the deal is to read the passages you instruct me to read. I never said I would read them correctly. It looks to me that what we have here is a stalemate. I think it’s time we call this deal off, agree?”

Reluctantly, the beast nodded his head and mumbled, “Agreed.” I hope I never meet him again, but should it happen, I’ll know better than to make a deal with the devil.