THE MOMENT
"BWAHAHAHA!" an enthusiastic, young voice filled the garage as the yellow sulfur smoke began to clear. The voice sounded different than Frank imagined a demon would sound like. But, he knew they were manipulative tricksters and it was likely trying to trick him. He was further surprised when the smoke finally cleared. An adorable 5-year-old blonde girl stood in the center of the summoning circle. She wore an ill-fitting navy blue suit that was too big for her; the sleeves extended past her hands and the pant cuffs bunched loosely around her ankles.
"SOOOOOoooo, you want to sell your soul, huh?" she asked with a broad grin. "We can arrange that for you," she added.
"Yes, how does it work?" Frank asked. He wasn't an idiot; the demon was obviously trying to toy with him. But, the facts were he summoned a demon and this girl appeared in the circle. He had never seen her before and there was no way for anyone to just sneak into his garage; and, the putrid scent of sulfur still lingered in the air. She was real, no matter her form. And, Frank was ready to make a deal.
"It's easy! You give me your soul and I give you anything you want," she said.
"It can't be that simple...," Frank said. The demon was wily; but, he knew better than to trust it.
"It is! Try it!" the blonde girl giggled. "What do you want most of all? What would you give your soul away for? Tell me an' I'll show it to you," she said. The girl leaned forward on her tiptoes as she stared up at Frank with a curious look. She was careful not to cross the circle and Frank was careful not to let his guard down.
"I want to always be the richest person on Earth for every day of my long, long life...,". It was only the beginning of his long-considered wish. "I want to always have money; I want to always be able to buy anything I see for sale. I want to be healthy and live as long as I want to live," he said.
"No problem!" the girl chirped at him. She pulled a white clipboard out of her suit and handed it to him. Frank expected to sign a contract; he did not expect to get a sheet of paper with a large "I. O. U." written in red crayon. It was unexpected; but, Frank wasn't a moron. The demon was still trying to mess with him; but, he wasn't going to bite. He proceeded with his plan and signed his name on the bottom of the sheet.
"YIPPEE!!!" the girl hopped in place and clapped her hands. "I GOT A SOUL!!!" she disappeared with a deep yellow plume of sulfur and left Frank in his garage alone. His mind started to wonder if he'd been cheated; but, a sudden notification dinged on his phone. He dug his phone out and discovered his bank balance had increased significantly.
"Alright!" he grinned to himself. "Time to go shopping...," he walked out of his garage and froze as soon as the door was open. His neighbor's houses and the downtown area that was normally visible from his hillside home were all gone. His house was now on a barren, empty flat plain that seemed to go on for miles. "No... where is everyone....," he shook his head hoping to magically clear his vision and give him his city back.
"Excuse me," a new, deep, smooth voice startled Frank out of his thoughts. He whirled around to see a tall, broad-shouldered red man in a navy blue suit. He had thick, long black horns coming out of his head and he stared at Frank with an almost apologetic look. "Did you just sell your soul to a five-year-old girl?" he asked.
"Why?" Frank asked. He wasn't trying to hide the answer; he was genuinely curious about why he had a new visitor asking about the previous one.
"I'm sorry, this is somewhat embarrassing," the imposing demon chuckled. "She's my granddaughter and I told her she could play in my old office; I didn't expect her to start trying to buy souls," he sighed with a playful grin. "I suppose I should have. At any rate, she's not authorized to trade in souls; your contract with her is null and void," the demon said.
"Really??" Frank perked up. The demon confirmed his second chance with a nod. "So,.. I get .. nothing?" Frank asked. He wasn't going to mess up his wish a second time. "I'm the one inconvenienced here, I deserve something for my wasted time."
"That's fair, I suppose...," the demon replied. He didn't bother hiding the annoyance in his voice; but, Frank was too caught up in his plan to notice. "What exactly did you ask for?" he asked.
"You don't have records?" Frank scoffed. He never would have expected to be in a position of power over the devil; but, he showed weakness by apologizing. Frank was annoyed that a child tricked him; but, it was Hell's fault, not his. They were the ones that let the girl run around unmonitored.
"Of course," the demon nodded. He pulled a small glass card from inside his suit and the display lit up like a smartphone. He tapped and swiped at it as he scrolled through different screens.
"...yadda yadda richest man on Earth...," the demon read the relevant bits aloud. "...as long as he wants...," he put the node away and then nodded at Frank.
"Okay, I got the gist of it," he said. "Since it's a freebie, you can only pick one thing. If you still want to sell your sell I can send a proper demon to set you up with that."
"I'll take the freebie," Frank said. He had been ready to sell. But, that was before he could get one of his wishes for free.
"Which will it be? You want to be the richest man on Earth every day, or do you want to live as long as you want to live?" It was an easy choice when boiled down to those two questions. He'd gone through a lot of pros and cons as he planned his wishes; but, something about the way they were worded made everything clear. If he had a long life, he had plenty of time to build his fortune.
"I want to live a long, healthy life," Frank said.
"Done," the demon nodded. "See you around," he waved but Frank's head spun around to his right, then back to the demon.
"WAIT!" he said. "You said the contract was null and void! Why am I still here??" he gestured to the open door at the empty world outside.
"It's kind of funny," the demon chuckled. "When new employees go through training, we always stress how important it is to make sure everything they do is documented and part of the deal," he said. "My granddaughter put you on this Earth all on her own; it wasn't part of the deal," he chuckled. "Naturally, I could put you back if I wanted to; but, I don't care for your attitude," he said.
"WHAT!?" Frank asked. His voice filled with panic as the garage filled with a plume of yellow smoke.
"She was just trying to be helpful," the demon chuckled. "Isn't she adorable?"