The Transaction

*As a side note*
This story was inspired by both my Catholic upbringing and my studies of Buddhist didactic tales. It was written during a difficult time in my life, and is not meant to offend anyone's beliefs. In the end, no matter our beliefs, I hope we can learn to love and forgive.




There was a lonely set of crossroads sitting in the middle of four corn fields, with stalks growing knee high. It was midnight and, except for some moths buzzing around the street lights and, and some bats eating the moths, there wasn’t much around. The yellow streetlights were the only witnesses nearby for at least a mile; the roads and fields beyond their dull light were lost in a void of darkness.
Quietly, a woman appeared, walking the slow, ragged walk of the exhausted. She wore an old pair of blue jeans, ripped at the knees over which hung a long ragged red shirt. A pair of big hiking boots, dusty from the road bore each step she took, and a large back pack was perch precariously on her back.
She was on a trip, but had been delayed getting to her next rest point. She looked up and down the road, deciding which way to go the wind blowing the ears of corn. She was too tired to notice the sound of the wind until she heard a rasping voice whisper, “Who comes here? Tell me, what are you called.”
The woman was startled, but was not sure if the voice was real or not. She was the most tired she had ever felt, and couldn’t stop herself from answering back“Is there someone there?” Women can come across terrible things while alone at night. She had known that those things would be a possibility on her journey, but she had learned to wield the weapon of bravery - and pepper spray and a heavy metal flashlight - against those things.
Under the star-filled sky, a wisp of black smoke billowed up from the cracked pavement, and took shape the shape a person. Their figure was transparent, barely distinguishable from the night air surrounding it. The smokey figure stretched its neck as if it had been waiting there a long time. “Tell me your name, child.” It had low, rumbling voice that shook the ground
“My name… is Amber,” said the woman. “Wh..who are you?” She knew the stories. Come to a crossroads at midnight to make a deal with The Devil. Was the myth true? Was it midnight? She had no watch to tell.
The smoke responded, “I am the one they call Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Father of lies, Satan, and The Devil.”
“That’s a lot of names.” Her voice should be afraid, but wasn’t; in fact, it was somewhat defiant. She was too tired to be scared, and had come to far to tremble in the fact of smoke. “What do you want?”
“It is not what I want, but what you want. I have come to make a deal. I can give you anything that you want, if you just tell me your wish. Nothing is impossible” The wind blew, and The Devil drifted slightly in the breeze, but maintained his shape.
“In return for my soul?” She queried.
“Yes.” He said, simply.
“Why do you want my soul?” This was question she had always been curious about, and how often does get to question the devil directly. She knew the stories, but she wanted to hear straight from the horse’s - or goat’s mouth. As she looked him over her eyes adjusted to the light and shadow; she saw the shapes of smokey hooves and the outline of wings on his back. She startled a little as behind she hear rustling, but it was only a rabbit, who darted in the undergrowth next to the road. Nothing to fear, there was no one else here except The Devil.
“I do not have time for stupid questions, child. Tell me your wish, or be on you way.” The Devil said irritably.
“Then you don’t want my soul that much. It’s a simple question” She said and began to walk down the road. The Devil jolted. If he really wanted, no needed this deal, he would answer.
And to her surprise, he did.
He needed each soul he could get - from the most powerful king to the simplest peasant. Each soul mattered, and if there was any hint of willingness, he must take it because if there was one human soul still free, then his task would not be done
“Wait! I will tell you in exchange for you soul” He said with a smile in his words, though he he had no face. She had gone over the crossroads now, and was leaving the small pool of street light for the road headed south.
“Nope, not worth it.” She shouted back to him.
“You should know the stories.” He said after her.
“Yes, but I want you hear it from you.” She said as she stopped and turned. A bat swooped down in the lamp light and tried to eat a moth, but the moth was too fast.
“Because I am a generous creature” The Devil said, with a bow. “I will give anything that you want. There is nothing that I will deny you…”
“Lies. Tell me the truth,” said Amber, crossing her arms, and putting her weight on one leg. This was not going the way he wanted, but once they made it this far in the conversation they always gave in, and he knew she would too.
“Because I hate you. You who were given everything.”
“And because your Father threw you out of the heaven, your home, because of it.” She nodded her head knowingly. “My dad threw me out, too, once.” said Amber, softly.
The Devil tried to redirect the conversation, “Now tell me, what is it that you want?” He said, trying to change the direction of the conversation.
“I know what it is like to want a father’s love… My dad chose his faith and his pride over me. He didn’t like who I was, and that it was different from what he wanted me to be. I know what it’s like to be rejected by someone you love.” Said Amber.
“So you want your father’s love, then?” Now you just need to say the words, “I will give you my soul for my father’s love” and can seal the….” he rubbed his hands together, ready to finish the deal, but she interrupted.
“No, no, no, don’t want that. I forgave my father, and he has come to accept me as me — in his own way. I am just saying that I know how hard it can be, when your father chooses something else over you.” The said nothing in response, so she body went on. “It feels awful, especially when in your heart, you really love them. You would terrible things to get their love back, or get back at them — destroy the whole world to make them listen. I know what it’s like to hurt by someone you love, and want to hurt them in return. But I also know that even the most broken of things can be mended if both sides put in the work.”
It was a foolish proposition that she would have never made in her right, awakened mind, but only fools would dare to try to break the unbreakable. “What if I asked for… for you to have your Father’s love … and also respect,” she said after a moment, “because there is no love without respect.” She said
“Wh-what?” Replied the devil. “Thats, that’s not p-possible…”
“But you said you would give me anything I wanted. ” Amber cut in and took a step closer him.
“Yes, but that’s not the way it works; I can’t give you that” The devil said. Maybe it was the changing light, but he seemed to have shrunk down a few inches.
“Didn’t you tell me nothing was impossible for you? If I — a measly, weak human — can forgive my father, then you can forgive yours.” She stood there he could feel her formulating the wish, and there was nothing he could to stop it. “We even kinda get a long now, and this Christmas, he even met my girlfriend, which is a miracle in itself.”
“My dad and I are just people, but your Father is God and you are an angel. More powerful than we will ever be. I am sure He will forgive you, and you Him… if you try. And if He won’t listen, or apologize or forgive, then He is not a God worth loving.” She walked forward as she spoke, while the devil backed away. “Anyway, that is want I want. I give you my soul, so that you go to your heaven and ask your Father for His love and respect.”
The Devil sat there, the wish taking form before him. He could feel her soul enter his grasp, but not in the way the previous ones had. She had given her soul to him, but he could feel it was not his. It was becoming a part of him; the part of him that was buried under the anger. The part of him that was just another lost child looking for love.
The transaction was done, and there was no going back.. Amber walked up to The Devil and put a hand on his smokey shoulder, as he sat down at the crossroads and wept.