The Trial, part 1-6

Who was David Sullivan?

He was a man, just like any man. He did things halfway good and lived his life how he wanted it to be. He went to church, but found it rather hard to stay awake during a monotone sermon. He preferred to watch baseball.

He was a construction worker, married, and expecting a child. Overall life was being good to David, and he found it to be hard work.

Finding a wife that loved him for who he was--that was hard work.

Building a house for a future family--that was hard work.

Playing quarterback in high school and scoring the points that won the championship game; that was hard work.

Graduating from high school--that had been hard work too.

Scraping in enough money to pay for college--that had been hard work as well.

Simply getting through collage--that had been excruciating work.

Of course, like most men, he had his fun in collage, drank his beer, watched football with the buddies. So far he had gotten through life. It had been hard, but now David was ready to reap the rewards.

And that particular Sunday morning, after deciding to skip church to do some finishing up construction work, David was hit by a truck and was killed instantly.


"All rise!"
David slowly stood up and rubbed his head. Where was he? What was he doing in a court room?
"All rise! Court is now in session!"
David looked around him. He was seated in a Defendant's box, the walls of which rose up to about his shoulders. Next to him was the Prosecutor's box, which housed maybe the ugliest man David had ever seen. His skin was a dark greenish color, deformed as if in a really bad fire, and he wore a black trench coat. As he stared at him the man flashed him a grin, in which David could easily see most of his teeth were rotten, and the ones that weren't were pointed, like an animals.

Looking further around the room, his eyes fell upon the Jury Box, which contained what looked like a bunch of silhouettes, except there wasn't a light behind them.
Looking at them made Davids eyes hurt, so he moved his gaze to the witness stand. For the moment it was empty, as was the Judges stand beside it.

However, David had found the source of what had made the statement about the court. Standing beside the Judges stand was a man clad in white. This wasn't what got David chuckling, though, it was the fact that the man had wings comming out of his back.

"Oh, brother," sighed David, and he instantly knew what this was about.

"Look," he said loudly to the man, "I know what this is. My wife put you up to this, didn't she? It was because I decided to skip out on church today, isn't it?"

The man looked at David with no expression on his face whatsoever.

"Don't bother," said the man in the prosecutor box, "I already tried talking to him, he doesn't answer."

David moved his position and noticed his hands were in chains.

"Hey," he said, "You didn't have to put me in chains! I learned my lesson. When I get out of here I'll go straight to church, how's that sound?"

Again, he received no response from the man in white, but the deformed one in the prosecutor box chuckled.

"Hey, don't look at us! We didn't put those chains there!"

David was just about tired of this charade. "Look," he tried once more with the man in wings, "I know this is all fake. I know that your wings are fake, and that your not really an angle, your just a man dressed up as one. This whole thing was cute for a while, but now it's done, and I need to get back to my life. So let me out, or I'm going to Call the police!"

Then, to prove he meant what he said, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, raising it above his head.

Again the ugly man in the black trench coat chuckled. "Why do you still have that? I thought for sure it was destroyed in the crash."

"What crash?" asked David, "What are you talking about? Where's my wife, I need to talk to my wife!"

"Hey," said the man, "You're the one with the cell phone."

David opened the cell phone and dialed his home number, but the phone never even rang.

"Really funny," said David, and he dialed number after number only to find that none of the phones rang. It was as if the signal left the phone and never came back. Not even 9-1-1 worked.

"What's the matter," smirked the man in the black trench coat, "Doesn't your phone work?"

Frustrated, David returned the phone to his pocket.

Seeing his frustration, the man in the trench coat smiled and said, "Ya know, I can help you get out of here."

David sighed. Finally, they were going to show him the way out of this mess. It's about time. He decided that when he got back he'd have a real talk with his wife.

"What do I have to do?" he asked with a sigh.

"Well that's easy," said the man with a smile, "You just have to listen to me. I've no doubt you would find that hard. If you can do that, when this whole thing is done I'll give you a ride home. How's that sound?"

"Sure, whatever," said David. he wouldn't mind a ride home, but if this guy smelled as bad as he looked, he might have to decline. As he turned to face the front, the man in the angle costume spoke in a loud voice,
"All rise! The honorable Judge, God, presiding!"

"Oh, goodie," said David sarcastically, "I've always wanted to see God!"
"I bet you have," said the man in black.

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David waited with a smirk for whoever this 'actor playing God' was to enter.

He did not have to wait long.

Suddenly a huge blast of wind circled around the court room, so hard it knocked David against the back wall of his stand.

The man in the black trench coat seemed to be enjoying it, and as the wind blew he yelled over the noise, "It's just like him to do this!"

Then, as soon as it had come, the wind ceased.
David turned to look up at the Judges stand.

It was empty.

Then the man dressed like an angle repeated once again, "The honorable judge, God, presiding. You may be seated."

The man in the Black trench coat shot back gruffly, "I'll be seated when I feel like it!" but he sat down all the same, and fixed his gaze on a spot on the floor.

David was Skeptical, he couldn't believe it. "What!" he said, voice thick with sarcasm, "That's it? That's all you got? You expect me to refine my life just because a ruddy blast of wind blows around the courtroom? A flick of the fans would accomplish that trick in a heart beat! You don't think I don't know how Hollywood works? There's not even anybody up there!" he said, pointing to the Judges stand.

David knew he had hit a hard spot with the people behind these walls, especially his wife. There was no way they, or especially she, would get him to fall for this garbage.

However, as he stood smiling, the ugly man in the trench coat was just as skeptical. "You," he said looking at David with a growing smile, "You, you don't see anything?"

"Because there's nothing there!" said David.

The man replied, "Oh boy, this is going to be easier than I thought."

Then David understood. "Oh, I get it. You're going to play the, -he's there and I can't see him game.- Brilliant! I should have seen it comming. Let me guess," said David, pretending to be thinking, "I can't see him because... Because everyone who looks God in the face dies."

"That's true," said the man, "But it's more along the lines of, -You CAN'T see him because you WON'T see him."

"Even better!" said David slapping his forehead, "I can't see him because I won't see him! Perfect, why didn't I think of that! Watch out fellas, we're getting pretty deep here!"

The man chuckled and said to the angel, "I like the way this guy thinks!"
The person with wings remained stone faced, and stepping up to the front of the stand spoke, "Will the Prosecutor please present his opening statement."

As if on cue, the door to the prosecutor's box popped open, and the Man in the trench coat strode out, putting on a black hat that had been resting on his Prosecutors wooden stand. Upon reaching the front of the Judges bench, he paused.

Finally, he whispered over to the man in the angel costume, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to the court?"

The man in the costume cried, "Presenting to the court, Lucifer."

The man took off his hat and bowed.

This was really all to much for David, however, and unable to hold it back, he burst into a fit of laughter. "Oh," he said between laughs, "I get it! This is a trial of my life! And you're the devil! Ha ha! The little red guy with horns! Ha ha! This is going to be..." then, slowly, David stopped Laughing.

If looks could kill, he'd be dead from the one the man in the trench coat was shooting at him.

"Yes," said the man in the trench coat slowly, an extremely annoyed look on his face, "Yes, David Sullivan, the little red guy with horns, you just keep thinking that."

Then, whipping around dramatically with his black trench coat he pointed a deformed green finger at David Sullivan, and, with his head facing the shadows in the Jury box, he cried, "Ladies and Gentleman of the Jury, I bring you David Mercer Sullivan, who has led a sinful life and is to be brought to justice! That is all."

Then, the man in the trench stalked back to his seat and slammed the gate shut.

As soon as the gate clicked shut, and the man who called himself Lucifer had seated himself, the angel cried, "Will the Defendant please present his opening statement," and just like that the door to Davids stall popped open and the court fell silent, waiting for David to approach the Judges stand and address the court.

David, however, was ignorant of this knowledge, stayed standing inside his defendants box, twiddling his thumbs.

Finally the man in the trench coat yelled, "Idiot! Approach the court and make your opening statement!"

David was a strong man, and not many times had he felt stupid or inferior, but the way the man had spoken to him made him feel like a fool. As David Stepped out of the Box and turned to address the court, he sized up this deformed man to guess if he might be able to give him a romp when this thing was done. The man, however, looked as if he had some strength hidden beneath that trench coat, and David decided that if he were to take his revenge, he'd need some help from his friends.

The man, catching Davids quick glance, laughed at him and said, "Don't even think about it, David Sullivan. You're out of your league."

Embarrassed, David turned to the angel, then the Devil, then to the Jury box full of shadows, and decided then that the time to put an end to this thing was now.

"Listen," he began, "This has all been great fun, it really has. You all are a great bunch of improvers. I think I might just sell this idea to some sunday school play house when I get out of here. I've learned my lesson, I'll go to church every Sunday from now on, I'll only drink beer on Saturdays, I'll give ten percent of what I have to the church, all that good stuff. I'm really impressed by the makeup it took to put this thing together, with the wings this guy has, and all those 3-D animated shadows in that box over there, and especially the make up that it took to put together all those burns on the devil.

The devil replied, "Hey, you spend an eternity in hell and we'll see what you look like."

That was it.

"Stop it!" yelled David, "Just drop it! Drop the act, I'm sick and tired of it, it's all a bunch of nonsense! There is no God, no devil, no angels, no nothing! It's all fake, you're all fake, and I'm getting out of here right now!"

And with that, David stomped down from the court area, in-between the Defendant and Prosecutor stands, towards the back of the room, and there he was met with a problem; one that sent shivers down his back.

"Where," David slowly sputtered, "Where's the door?"

The devil chuckled and said slowly, "There is no door. There is no exit, and there's no...way...home."

David tried logic once more, "Then how did you get here?"

"The same way we'll be leaving," replied the devil, "Second hole to the right and straight down till morning."

For once, David was scared. "We'll? What do you mean, We'll be leaving?"

"Did you forget?" said the devil, "I promised you a ride home, and David," he said with a cold smile, "I make it a habit to keep my promises."

David turned to face the room. The angel said sternly, "Will the Defendant please come to the front of the court and present his opening statement."

David walked slowly to the front of the court.

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David now stood at the front of the court, sweating like a pig. For the first time, it occurred to him that this might all be real.

He turned to the devil and asked, "So, if this is all really happening, that is, I died and now I'm being judged for my life, I've got a few questions."

"Shoot," said the devil.

"How did I get here?"

"You died."

David tried to stifle his frustration. "Ya, I get that part. How did I Die?"

The devil smiled and said, "What do you remember doing last?"

David answered, "I was driving to a construction site to finish up on some paper work. So what?"

The devil sighed and said, "You were hit by a truck, died instantly."

David tried to comprehend the facts, but couldn't do it.
"What if," he said, "What if I said I needed proof? Would you have any?"

The devil said, "Reach inside your shirt, on your left side, just below your ribs."

David did so, and when his hand touched the spot, he drew it away and gasped.

The devil laughed and said, "Missing anything? If that doesn't do it, I suppose the fact that you don't have a pulse won't ether."

Sure enough, David tried his neck and wrist, even his chest. No pulse. No heartbeat. Now he was scared. This certainly wasn't a dream, and there wasn't any way they could take away his pulse and still have him moving. So the only other explanation was that...

"Yes," said the devil, reading his thoughts, "It's real all right, and your stupid human logic aggress with it as well. Now, make your opening statement."

David just had to get one more thing straight. "So, I'm on trial for the sins I've committed, right?"

"Right," said the devil, growing impatient.

"And if I win, that means I get to go to-"
"You won't win," the devil snarled.

"And why not?" said David, keeping hope alive, "Why can't I win? The future isn't written in stone."

The devil smiled, showing some of his rotten teeth. "You won't win," he said, "Because you're guilty. Now present to the Jury your opening statement."

David turned to the shadowed people in the jury box.
He asked the devil, "Who are they?"

The devil answered, "They make up Gods perfect judgement. They are the angels of Death."

David shivered. So much for winning over the jury.

"MAKE YOUR STATEMENT!" screamed the devil.

Feeling rather jumpy, David finally said, "Look, I've done some bad things in my life, but I'm overall a good person, and I wouldn't intentionally hurt anybody, so, I think that I don't deserve to go to hell," then, more to reassure himself, he said quietly, "Good people don't go to hell."
This being said, he took his seat. The door to the stand clicked shut.

The angel stepped forward and addressed David, "David Mercer Sullivan, you are being accused of leading a sinful life. How do you plead?"

David thought, "If I plead innocent, I would be lying, but if I plead guilty I don't stand a chance. Maybe, Maybe since I'm an overall good person, maybe that counts for innocence."

The angel asked again, "How do you plead?"

"Innocent"

This was followed by hoots of laughter from the devil.

The angel, satisfied, stepped back and said, "Will the Prosecutor call the first witness."

"Certainly," said the Devil, as his gate popped open, "I call prince Lucifer to the stand."

David was aghast. "Wait a second," he stammered, "he can't call himself to the stand!"

"Do you see anyone else?" asked the devil, "Besides, if anyone were to have witnessed your sinning, you can bet I had the best view!"

So the devil approached the the witnessing stand, and the angel approached him with a bible, and the devil put his hand on it.

The angel spoke, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

The devil smiled up at the angel and said, "Sorry, it's in my nature."

The angel returned to side of the judges stand.

The devil began, "Today, ladies and gentleman of the court, I bring you striking evidence of every sin that David Sullivan has committed up to the day he died. I assure you of this, I was there for every one of them.The evidence, however, being so large that it would take at least 10 years earth time to relate but a third of it to you, I took it upon my self to-"

"Let me guess," interrupted David, "You wrote them all down in a book, a book of my sins."

"No," said the devil, "what are you, straight from the 1800's? I took it upon myself to create for the court a power-point, which has total running time of 30 earth years,12 Earth hours and 7 Earth seconds."

"That's impossible," protested David, "I'm only 29 years old!"

"Thoughts and actions are separated," replied the devil, not minding at all the interruption, "But assuming that they weren't, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that would mean that David Sullivan had spent a little over half of his life sinning."
"Not very good odds," said the devil to David.

A thought occurred to David, and although it seemed absurd, he stood up and shouted to the angel, "I object! Council is leading the witness!"

For a moment, the devil looked worried, but as they both stared at the angel for a reaction, they were met with none. The angel acted as though he hadn't heard the statement made at all.

"Nice try," sneered the devil, and he continued, "Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I have taken the liberty of constructing for the court a power point containing the evidence, but because of the Immense length of such a piece of evidence, I will hand it over to the jury to have it be watched."

"Are you kidding me?" asked David as the devil handed over the evidence to the angel, who took it over to the jury, "If that thing takes 30 years to watch, it's going to be forever until we get back to the trial!"

"Have you forgotten?" asked the devil, "compared to eternity, any length of time, no-matter how large, is like an interval that's always getting smaller. Besides, what's your rush?," he asked, as the angel handed the disk back to the devil.

David was dumbfounded. "What? they're done already?"

"The disk could have been 10,000 times 10,000 years long, and they still would have been done by now. Why is it humans have such a hard time understanding eternity? It's like trying to teach a dog to understand color!"

The angel said, "Proceed with the examination."

"Has the jury viewed the evidence?"

"Yes," said the angel.

"Then that's all the further I'm going to examine this witness," replied the devil.

The angel then spoke to David, "Dose the Defense wish to cross-examin the witness?"

David understood the question. Now, it was the devils turn to be under the microscope, now the tides would turn.

"Yes," replied David, throwing a smile the devil, "The defense most certainly wishes to cross-examine the witness.


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Now David was on top of things, now he'd show the devil who's boss.

So they were, David standing looking into the devils eyes, smiling, and the devil looking into David's eyes, smiling, each thinking he had the other outsmarted.

"So," said David to the devil, "You little red man with horns, I didn't appreciate any of that evidence."

"That hardly matters," replied the devil, "What would you know? You didn't even see any of it."

"I will now," said David, "Hand over the evidence, devil!"

"I don't feel like it," he hissed back.

"You say you were present all the times I sinned, and that the video you gave the jury has all that stuff on their. I say your bluffing, and your making it all up!"

Then, getting into it, he swung back to face the jury and said, "Certainly, if devil has all the powers of earth at his command, he could have easily made a counterfeit powerpoint presentation with some future technology, and then brought it to court to show you and trick you! The fact that he isn't letting me see it only proves that the disk is fake!"

Then pointing at the devil he shouted, "your existence is a fake, and as far as I'm concerned, your case against me is just as hallow!"

At this the devil was silent, but only for a moment. "Fine," said the devil cooly, spinning his hat around in his hands, "but I don't think you know what your asking for."

Then, standing up, he said straight to David, "I know mankind backwards and forwards. I know how they think, how they act, why they do whatever they do, but even more so," and at this the devil broke a smile, "I know their weaknesses. Every single one of those weaknesses are as plane as night to me. And, most important of all, I know how to use a mans weaknesses against himself. I know how to break him."

The devil leaned closer to David. "Do you know how to break a man, David? I can tell you, I can even show you. Can you keep a secret?"

David looked at the devil, not sure how he should answer.

The devil leaned closer to David, so close he could smell his rancid breath. He tried to move, but his legs would not obey.

"If you want to break a man," whispered the devil, "You show him his sin. And the sin will consume him."

Then, leaning back, he spoke, "If you want to see your sin, by all means, don't let me stop you. They say knowledge is the thing to be sought for. That's why Eve picked the fruit off the tree. She wanted to know the difference between good and evil. But she couldn't handle the truth, she, who was made perfect. How can you say you can, when you've spent more than half of your life drinking poison?"

"But," the devil went on, sensing David's thoughts, "I could just be trying to freak you out, get in your head, that sort of thing. Maybe I am bluffing, there's only one way to find out, even if it means watching yourself drink poison over again. Go ahead," he urged, taking out the disk in his pocket, "You'll find a lab top inside my prosecutors box."

"But," said the devil, louder so everyone could hear him, "I urge the members of the jury to watch his reaction, and judge the validity of the evidence by that!"

David had screwed up now, and he knew it. If he decided not to watch the disk, then the evidence stayed, and supposedly, the jury believed the devil. On the other hand, how could he watch the disk? What if it really did contain every sin he'd ever committed? That would be every man's worst nightmare. But he had to take that chance. Maybe just a peak...

David walked over to the prosecutors stand, and looked around it. Sure enough, just inside a drawer to the right of the entrance was a blue lab top tucked neatly beside a small screen projector. David took it out the lab top and opened it up. The computer flashed on.

"Last chance," crooned the devil.

David slowly inserted the disk.

About 30 seconds later David ejected the disk, shut the computer, and attempted to break the disk over the side of the Prosecutors stand. One thought dominated his entire being.

"No one must ever see this disk!"

David's attempts to destroy the disk were futile, and he found the disk to be the hardest substance he had ever come in contact with. Try as he might, he found that the disk was receiving no harm at all. On the contrary, it was actually chipping bits of wood off of the stand.

In a panic, he threw the disk across the room, only to have it bounce off a wall and roll neatly to the witness stand, where upon the devil picked it up and chuckled.
"I tell ya," he said with a laugh, "those sins can be tougher than nails sometimes.
But what's the matter? You seemed to like them well enough when you were committing them, certainly you don't regret their presence now?"

"Shut up," said David crossly.

"My my," said the devil, "Let's not lose our tempers now, remember, God is watching you."

David would have gone right at the devil had he not made his last remark. He turned to the Judges stand. It still appeared to be empty, but David had seen enough to make him believe any thing. If God was up there, he needed to be as good as possible.

So, defeated, David sat back down in the defendants stand. The gate clicked shut after him.

"That's better," said the devil smugly.

The angel got up and stood in-front of the judges stand. In a loud voice he asked, "Does the Prosecutor wish redirect the witness?"

"No," said the devil getting up from the witness stand and sitting back down, "prince Lucifer may return to his seat."

No sooner had the devil sat down, than the angel spoke to him, "Will the Prosecutor Call for the next witness?"

"What, is it my turn again already," said the devil smugly, "Oh, that's right, David's turn was a complete failure, that's why it seemed why I just went."

David was silent.

The devil looked at him with contempt and said, "Oh, if you think your low now, you haven't seen nothing yet! Cause you see David," he said with a smirk, "I not only promised to tell you how to break a man, I promised to show you how to break a man, and guess who my guinea pig's gonna be?"

David looked up at the devil and noticed that he had not only gotten the lab top and the disk out, but that he had also gotten out the screen projector, and was busy hooking it up.

When the devil finished he flung his hat into the air and cried, "I call David Sullivan to the stand!"

And slowly, David did as ordered.

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David stood in the witness box. The angel approached him, and David put his hand on the bible.

The angel asked, "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

David answered, "So help me God,"

"You'd better hope so," said the devil as the angle returned to his spot beside the judges stand, "You're gonna need all the help you can get when I'm through with you, David Sullivan!"

At this the Devil stood up, and pressed a few keys on the keyboard and the projector sprang to life, throwing an image onto the wall behind David. A pair of blue lettering with green background came up on the screen, spelling out, "Davids life, Table of Contents," and below that, "Thoughts, Actions."

"Turn around," said the devil, "You can see it better."

David turned around.

"Now," said the devil, "Although we can easily see by David's reaction that he is guilty, I bet I can get it out of his own mouth that he is guilty."

Turning to David, the devil spoke, "Well, David Sullivan, Do you confess these sins to be yours?"

David was at ends. If he confessed the sins to be his, he went to hell. But if he said nothing, the devil was sure to begin the film. Which was worse?

Not getting a reaction, the devil said, "Suit yourself," and moving the mouse he clicked 'Actions.' A scroll of options popped out after it, to which the devil clicked 'view randomly'.
The screen went black.

"No, wait!" cried David.

"To late," said the devil with equal loudness, "about 30 years to late, David Sullivan!"

The screen came into color, and David saw a picture of a candy store. A group of children walked in.

"Recognize anyone?" asked the devil.

"That's me," said David, almost smiling, "I'm a kid. Oh, how young I look!"

But then David noticed something else.

"Hey, wait a second," said David, "What's that thing on my shoulder?"

For certainly, there was a thing on Davids shoulder, something that resembled a demented teddy bear. It had black, matted fur, accompanied with dark red eyes, claws on its feat and hands, and sharp little teeth, around which slithered the things snake-like tongue. That wasn't all. David wasn't the only one with the thing on his shoulder. Everyone of those children had the creatures on their shoulders as well.

As David watched, he became disgusted, for the creature, once realizing where it was, stuck its claws into David's skull and directed his attention to a back corner of the store. The young David motioned with his friends and while some of them broke off to distract the old man at the counter, the rest made their way to the back of the store.

"Do you remember this?" asked the devil.

Davids smile had long since vanished, and he watched the moving pictures like a man watches a truck about to hit him.

The children and the young David moved to the back of the store, and circled one of the younger boys in the group, seeming to pressure him into doing something. The younger one finally gave in, and reached inside the counter and pushed a pack of cigarettes into his pocket. The job being done, the kids, including the ones in the front, exited.

"It wasn't my fault!" said David, "I was young, I just wanted to belong! It was a dare, I wasn't the only one doing it! What is that thing on my shoulder?"

"One of my little helpers," said the devil, "I believe he calls himself stupidity."

David shook his head.

"Keep watching," said the Devil, "It's not done with."

The children said their good-bys after exiting the store, but the one who had stolen the cigarettes went behind the store, and after looking around, took out the cigarettes.

"Don't do it," said David softly.

The child then looked up at the sky. As if on cue, the cloud cover broke, and the sun shined though onto the child.

Suddenly, of all the people who should walk up, the devil himself suddenly appeared.

"What?" asked David softly.

The devil leaned over and spoke in the child's ear. The child nodded and took a magnifying glass out of his pocket and focused the point on the end of the cigarette, which started to smoke.

"You monster!," cried David turning to the devil, "It was your fault!"

"Quiet," said the devil, "your ruining it!"

The child then stuck the end of the cigarette in his mouth and inhaled, causing a fit of coughing. The devil smiled.

"Hey David," asked the devil, "Guess what happened to him?"

"What," asked David.

"He died of lung cancer. I had him on trial a few days ago, and guess what? He lost!"

"It was your fault," cried David, "You're the one to blame!"

The devil paused the screen. "Okay, David. Justice 101. I didn't make you do anything. I merely presented the option. You chose to do what you did of your OWN FREE WILL. The blame is yours, the fault is yours, and after this trial, the punishment will be yours."

"What about your punishment?" asked David.

"I'm getting it when the world ends," said the devil, "But until then, I'm going to make sure I have good company to spend it with."
"You see," said the devil, "My entire existence is devoted to revenge, to dragging down as many as possible after me, and you know what the best thing about it is?" The devil smiled, "I'm dragging you down with me, and there's nothing the justice system can do about it. It aggress with me!"

The devil leaned in at David, making him lean back as far as he could in the witness stand. He spoke quietly, "No matter what you do, you can't beat me. You lost the moment you were born. So I'll ask it once more. Do you confess these sins to be yours?"

David was silent.

"Good," said the devil, "I like a good challenge," and he pressed play.

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The screen again went black

"This next ones gonna be good," said the devil.

Suddenly the picture came alive, and showed a grade school David on the phone in the kitchen doing his homework. Once again David noticed one of the demented beany-babies, only this time it was only floating around the room in the air.

"Do you remember this?" asked the devil.

The young David hung up the phone and ran upstairs to talk to his mother.

"Let's turn the sound on, shall we?" said the devil, and with a few clicks of the keys, David found himself hearing his own voice.

"Mom, can I go to a party tonight?"

"David, it's a school night, and who's party is it?"

"Joshes," said David.

"David, honey, do you still have homework?"

"Only a little..."

"No. It's a school night, and Joshes parents aren't as strict as I am about alcohol. I'd rather you stay home."

David then noticed that the demented beany-baby had followed him upstairs, and at his mothers words, sunk its claws into Davids heart.

"No," said the real David

"NO!" cried the David on the screen, It's just a party, and I've been working really hard, and I deserve to go!"

"David, honey-"

"You promised!"

"Yes," said his mother, "but that's not what I-"

"Never mind," said David, heading for his room, "I guess I'll just stay in my room all night thinking about how much I hate my mom!" and with that he slammed the door.

The David watching the screen had tears in his eyes. "You fool!" he cried, "Can't you see you've hurt her! Go back and apologize to her! Quick, while there's still time!"

The screen followed Davids mother inside her room, who fell down upon her bed, weeping.

Suddenly the devil appeared.

"You," David whispered, watching the screen.

The devil on the screen spoke, "He hates you, he really does."

"That's not true!" shouted David, desperate, "don't believe him, he's lying!"

The devil on the screen went on, "You're a terrible mother, sometimes it would have been better if you had never been born."

The mother sobbed and nodded.

"No!" cried David.

"There's a way out, you know," said the devil on the screen, "You know where he keeps the gun. It's in the second drawer, underneath the socks."

"Monster!" cried David, tears streaming down his face, "Mom, I'm sorry, please, don't do it!"

"That's right," said the devil on the screen, "We'll show him, we'll show the world what a trial it is to be a mother. Let's see if he hates you after this. Make sure it's loaded."

The mother obeyed.

"No," sobbed David, "no, no, no."

The mother closed her eyes and put the gun to her head. David closed his eyes, and plugged his ears, but the bang was still heard.

The screen went to Davids room. He was sitting in bed, listening to music.
Then the screen went black.

"Hey David, guess what?" said the devil, "She lost her trial too."

That was all it took.

David broke open the door to the witness stand and charged at the devil, screaming, "It was your fault, it was your fault!"

The devil, amused, stretched out his hand at David, and stopped him in mid step, leaving David only to spit curses at the devil.

"Coward!" he yelled, "Fight me like a man!"

"But I'm not one," said the devil, "and words work so much better."

Raging, David yelled once more, "It was your fault, you killed her, you monster!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" asked the devil, shaking his head, "I only presented the problem, she chose to shot herself by her own free will. Although I must admit," chuckled the Devil, "she was a bit of a troubled woman; dumb in the head, if you will. I'd just like to say that it shows in you as well."

"AGGGGHHHHA!" screamed David, trying to lose the devils invisible bonds.

"Relax," said the devil calmly, "There's nothing you can do about it. When you relax we'll talk our way though it, maybe get you some counseling."

"I'll kill you," shouted David, "I'll kill you for ruining my life!"

"You were ruining it by yourself!" shouted the devil, "Remember the time you beat up Fred for spilling orange juice on your football uniform, or the time you bought all those pictures of girls off the internet, or maybe the time you stayed the night at Norman's house just so you could steal his valuable baseball cards?"

"Stop it!" shouted David. He tried to cover his ears, but the devil held his hands apart.

"Or maybe," the devil crooned, "Maybe you remember Melinda? After the championship football game, with all the beer and sweet Melinda in the back seat of the pickup?"

"Shut up!" screamed David, "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Gee, what would your wife think if she found out?" said the devil innocently.

David, in his passion, forgot for a moment he was dead and said, "Please don't tell her, she'd be heartbroken, don't tell her what I've done!"

"Relax, David, I don't think she'd care much now."

David stopped squirming. "What do you mean. Of course she would care, she loves me."

The devil smiled and asked, "Are you sure?"
Then, with his free hand he motioned to the mouse, and it moved to the left and clicked a couple of times, while the keys began to push themselves down.

Suddenly the screen shot out a picture of his wife at the door of her house, kissing another man, taller and more handsome than David was.

The devil pressed play, and as David watched the video clip a pit formed in his stomach, and he reached out his hand to the pictures and whispered, "Juliet, I love you, Juliet. I'm sorry."

The devil loosed his grip and David fell to the ground, lifeless and sobbing.

The devil walked over to David's limp form and said, "It was your fault she's two-timing you. You were a lousy husband and would be an even worse father. It was a good thing you died, because deep down, she wanted you dead."

David sputtered, "but.. the baby-"

"The baby wasn't even yours!" the devil spat, and David lowered his head and continued crying, "Oh, Juliet, Julie, I'm so sorry, I'm a failure."

The devil spit on David with contempt and said, "That's right you're a failure. You failed in life so it's only fitting that you fail in death as well. Now, I'm going to ask you one more time," and leaning down to Davids limp form he whispered, "Do you confess these sins to be yours?"

David nodded and said, "Yes, their all mine. I'm guilty, it's my fault. Please, don't show any more."

The devil stood up and walked back to his prosecuting box.

"And that," he said with a smile, "Is how you break a man. I rest my case."

The devil sat back down, and the trial continued.

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