The Devil You Say

by Joseph Grant

I’ll be damned thought Jack Pennington as he drove towards the strange-looking bar in the middle of the desert and thought how weird it was to see a bar out here in the middle of Death Valley and that it must be some sort of mirage at first, but this peculiarity did not stop him from going in where he found one lone patron and a stunning blonde directly across from him and as he sat down, the decrepit old man rasped: “I bet you everything I have you can’t go over and kiss that beautiful girl.” Not one to pass up a good opportunity, nor the man’s insanely generous offer and thinking the guy could be a Howard Hughes-type in desert rat disguise, Jack went over, small-talked the breathtakingly beautiful girl and then after a few moments of intense connection, with nothing to lose, he kissed her long and sensually until she was all his. “Okay, you old goat, now I am ready to collect on our bet as you bet me anything that I couldn’t kiss that hottie over there and well, I’ve kissed her and I also think I’ll be taking her home as well, thanks to you.” “Allow me to introduce myself; I go by many names; you may know me by Lucifer, Mephistopheles, the Accuser, Beezlebub, El Diablo, the Morning Star, but to all I am the Devil and that girl you made out with is The Whore of Babylon, but a bet is certainly a bet, we’re bored and I didn’t think she’d go for it; but alas, name it, whatever you want is yours.” “The Devil you say... well, I’ll be damned.” “As you wish!” The old man roared and everything, the old man, the girl, Jack, his car and the bar itself disappeared into the heat of the fiery noon-day sun.

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Joseph Grant, author of The Drowning Man, has been published in over 55 literary reviews and e-zines, such as Byline, New Authors Journal, Howling Moon Press, Hack Writers, New Online Review, Indite Circle and Cerebral Catalyst.