"I'm waiting for my ship" I told the devil.
"That ship sailed a long time ago." she replied as she dragged on the last puff of the Lucky Strike she nursed until the filter. She turns looking for someplace to throw the remnant, then at last finding a nearby bin, she flips the cigarette and turns to me for a wink before walking off the narrow alley.
I stood dumbfounded at the remark, thinking hope is lost.
More than fifty years ago, I found her shuffling whiskey shot glasses, high on a mountain bar where cigar smoke accumulated thicker than the fog at four in the afternoon. On the veranda, she served me a couple of shots of neat jacks. She wasn't particularly good-looking with pock marks of juvenile skin problems peppering her face but she held an air about her that indicated she did not think she belonged in menial undertaking. Neither was she coy about what she wanted, you know the type.
More than fifty years ago, I found her shuffling whiskey shot glasses, high on a mountain bar where cigar smoke accumulated thicker than the fog at four in the afternoon. On the veranda, she served me a couple of shots of neat jacks. She wasn't particularly good-looking with pock marks of juvenile skin problems peppering her face but she held an air about her that indicated she did not think she belonged in menial undertaking. Neither was she coy about what she wanted, you know the type.
Saturn seduction comes easy with sixty moons hanging on the evening sky. Saturn summers, comprising a fourth of the thirty year revolution of the planet around the sun, gives a new meaning to the phrase 'endless summer'. We didn't make any plans about the future, seeing all too well it was temporary but it went on and on and on and on like the EverReady rabbit on crack.
"Is there god?" I asked her once.
"It's a convenience we all need" she replied smiling enigmatically.
"You're the devil, you should know"
"The devil is in the eye of the beholder"
One night, on our way to Euclid, we lost our way, driving around in circles. I started to sing. Music calms the soul. I said "Should we encounter bandits just hand them the keys." Suddenly a dragon storm caught us in the middle of the street. The patter of solid methane upon the roof of the vehicle was ear splitting. We had to find shade.
It was a music lounge south of a half arc. Old men filled the club singing songs that survived the ages accompanied by an interstellar crowd pleaser. An insurance salesman hogged the stage crooning melodies from what I can only suppose were from the first millenium.
"Do you know "Is there love?" I asked the pianist on my turn at the stage
"It's a convenience we all need"
We floated our relationship. The immediate impact of lesser gravity is that floating makes carbon based entities laugh uncontrollably. It was happiness without reason, just the interaction of hydrogen and floating. It's like herbs with peanut butter sandwiches. We were laughing all the time.
Then, a sygyz occurred on the 28th year of one revolution. Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and the sun fell in a straight line. All the heavens went dark.
"Is there a soul?" I heard a shout from the back.
"Peanut butter!!" the crowd roared "Peanut butter!!""Peanut butter!!""Peanut butter!!"
The confusion dangled that made existence questionable
"Rythm, Rythm" I distinctly heard her call my name while I was in a daze.
As she walked away, I felt ambiguous. My consolation was that the first rule of striking a deal with the devil is- don't.
"Is there god?" I asked her once.
"It's a convenience we all need" she replied smiling enigmatically.
"You're the devil, you should know"
"The devil is in the eye of the beholder"
One night, on our way to Euclid, we lost our way, driving around in circles. I started to sing. Music calms the soul. I said "Should we encounter bandits just hand them the keys." Suddenly a dragon storm caught us in the middle of the street. The patter of solid methane upon the roof of the vehicle was ear splitting. We had to find shade.
It was a music lounge south of a half arc. Old men filled the club singing songs that survived the ages accompanied by an interstellar crowd pleaser. An insurance salesman hogged the stage crooning melodies from what I can only suppose were from the first millenium.
"Do you know "Is there love?" I asked the pianist on my turn at the stage
"It's a convenience we all need"
We floated our relationship. The immediate impact of lesser gravity is that floating makes carbon based entities laugh uncontrollably. It was happiness without reason, just the interaction of hydrogen and floating. It's like herbs with peanut butter sandwiches. We were laughing all the time.
Then, a sygyz occurred on the 28th year of one revolution. Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn and the sun fell in a straight line. All the heavens went dark.
"Is there a soul?" I heard a shout from the back.
"Peanut butter!!" the crowd roared "Peanut butter!!""Peanut butter!!""Peanut butter!!"
The confusion dangled that made existence questionable
"Rythm, Rythm" I distinctly heard her call my name while I was in a daze.
As she walked away, I felt ambiguous. My consolation was that the first rule of striking a deal with the devil is- don't.
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