Satan – Of Glass & Paper

Devious #VisDare 128

5346021c4b91a1e58920693712960d2a

It’s a long story, a kind of one hundred years war, that cannot be won, and yet we keep on fighting… You were already there, in the old class room, in the heart of winter, as our teacher was telling us about the Middle Ages, and, about you, the ever present, maleficent fallen angel. You were then a mere dark shadow, near the old coal fire.

One day I was clearing the sports ground of leaves. It was cold, there was no-one else around. As I wiped the sweat off my forehead, I heard a slight stir in the pile of leaves. It wasn’t the wind: there was a small repugnant creature, bigger than a rat, looking at me through a hideous pair of red eyes.

Since then, in so many places, from my back garden to the streets of cities, the seductive face, the ugly gnarl of a thug.

VisDare 128: Devious

This is Your Life #DailyPrompt #faith

If you could read a book containing all that has happened and will ever happen in your life, would you? If you choose to read it, you must read it cover to cover.

I do not need you to learn about the past, and I do not trust you.

As for the future, you are the great Manipulator, of events, of souls, of us, poor mortals. So I won’t be fooled, I’ll make my future with my friends, those who love mankind, and share my faith.

Keep your lies, there is only one Book I trust.

Image: Charles Marville – Porte sud de la Cathédrale de Chartres, 1854, via photos-de-france

#Promptbox: Planetary Boundaries

We will restore the Earth to

Her Beauty,

We will clean the Rivers,

Purge the Oceans

Of the filth of greed,

We will return the Land to its rightful owners

We will ban weapons and complicated machines,

We will destroy Satan’s mills…

We will, again, till the soil

Without poisons,

But first:

We will follow Your example,

And chase the devils out of the Temple:

The plutocrats,

The oligarchs,

The banksters,

The rapists

The child molesters,

The racists,

The ones who do not deserve your World, Lord,

And we may even, with Your permission,

Take a few scalps…

#DailyPrompt: Greetings, Stranger (ou la Beauté du Diable)

Greetings… I recognise him straightaway, even before he spoke. This time it was not the pretty woman, but a handsome man, the latin, middle-aged type, careful haircut, immaculate shirt, evidently educated and well dressed. His French was impeccable.

He smile when he heard my name. I was determined to play along, for a little while. I replied that “looking for me” was not difficult: after all, I am a public figure. He asked if he could sit. “Be my guest” I said.

He’d overdone the aftershave: it’s always so, some details he cannot control, and the image is never all that convincing. We know he’s a fraud. For a few minutes we were silent, watching the crowds of late Summer, an endless flow of tourists and idle residents.

“You know,” he said, “I very much liked your last book.” “Which one,” I asked: “I have just published two!”

He did not blush, but I could sense his discomfort. “No worries,” I continued, “It’s a great concern for me, though, that you even find the time to read, you have been so busy lately…”

He looked at me , puzzled. “Yes, I said, killing children, bombing cities, raping girls, poisoning our atmosphere… How do you find time for anything else?”

But he had already left. Satan is a coward.

#FiveSentenceFiction: Conflict

We know how it all starts: lies, distrust, fear…

We also know how it finishes, the ruins, the lost lives, the seeds of more to come: 1871, 1918, 1945, and the tall stories the alleged victors tell.

What we don’t know is how to stop the lies, the stupidity, the fear: for those are the Devil’s weapons, and he is skilled at duping mankind, and his minions are many.

So, it comes always to that: to ignore, or to fight, to be on the side of Pilate, or that of Saint Michael.

And to ignore is to leave it to Satan and his legions to decide our fate…

#VisDare76: Resolve

We follow the uncertain path, through the sombre tunnel of mortal dreams,

Alone we are, our tired bodies aspiring to peace, and eternal rest.

Yet we haven’t finished: there is much to be done, much to fight for, friends to protect, fiends to slain,

And Him, hidden behind the clouds, always observing and mocking, in the end we will destroy Him, and leave His bones in the furnace of our star…

#DailyPrompt: Middle Seat

We were still a couple hours from landing. I am used to those tedious crossings, and never liked them, but work is work. The enticing, if a little monotonous voice couldn’t be avoided. The attractive person sat to my left and, earlier on, I had given up the idea to escape, trying to concentrate instead on my reading.

Something in the musicality of the words intrigued me: I had heard the tonality many times before, was it possible? I turned slightly toward my neighbour, a well dressed woman in her thirties with real sex appeal. Her make up was perfect, after already six hours of flight. She smiled, and then I abandoned any doubt.

Many times, in my long life, he confronted me, in many disguises. This time the voice was talking literature, authors I knew and liked. The Devil is canny, and he knows his subject. I must have disappointed him once again, by not giving too much attention to his speech. I calmly pulled the little crucifix I always travel with.

“Vade Retro Satanas…” But my companion had already vanished from her seat.

It turns out…

Daily Prompt: Careless Whisper

It happens: sometimes that filter in our head bursts and we say too much of what we’re thinking and someone gets hurt. Tell us about a time you or someone you know said something that they immediately regretted.

We were talking amiably, and my companion – I had met him on the same café terrace in Neukölln where I have breakfast most days – was turning out to be a knowledgable Berliner.

He had a good recollection of his youth in East Berlin, and was telling me lovely stories of his schooldays, and his love of football. He was a charming “raconteur”.

As I looked around at the gracious locals walking to their business, I became conscious that my companion was observing me. I smiled, as we older men do, when we are considering friendship, without yet being committed to anything.

We had not really introduced ourselves. And then he started the sentence: “I must tell you, doctor Faust…”

Immediately the fraudster knew that he had unmasked himself. My name is not Faust, and I am no doctor, but he considers his possible preys, all of us, as the same and one person. I stood up, towering above the little man, well, the creature he had adopted the shape of.

“Out of sight,” I said in a tone that did not expect any reply, “Get out of here, go, now!” And he did.

#FiveSentenceFiction: Misunderstanding

“I’m just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood…”

~ The Animals, Don’t let Me Be Misunderstood

I have met him in many disguises, always the smooth talker, sometime the beautiful female seductress, sometime the innocent child.

I always see through his masks, but to give him credit, he’s trying hard to fool me, as well as everyone else.

That evening, in a remote quarter of the city that is sometimes called “Faust’s metropolis” – as it too often changes its looks – I got almost fooled, and yes, I admit, my guard was down.

He came to me as a young and very handsome beggar, and I listened to his words carefully, as I was intrigued and suspected an assassin.

I did not leave the beautiful eyes one instant, and expected the young man to draw a weapon of some sort, but no, he was offering the city to me – pure and simple: “I know you love this place” he said in the most melodious voice, upon which I replied: “It is not yours for giving, this is not the city of the Angels, nor is it the city of Satan, it is the city of the Archangel”, and I drew my sword.