It was... 1965, yes it was. I had just rented a new shop for my tailoring -- didn't have anything in it yet but my big table. Went out drinking all afternoon and evening and came back late at night. Didn't dare go home like that -- once I fell asleep my wife would have beaten me for being drunk. So I went back to my new shop to sleep. Pulled up the metal shutter, went in, then closed and locked it from inside, and laid down on the table to sleep.
I was awakened by a tremendous racket, someone banging and smashing from outside on my metal shutter. At first I thought someone was trying to rob me, so I didn't open it. But then I heard a voice calling my name and yelling at me to get out of my shop. Oh no, I thought, something is wrong, maybe a fire.
So I got up and opened the shutter. The noise immediately stopped, and when I looked outside, no one was there. The night was perfectly still and quiet. That frightened me. I shut the door very quickly and tried to go back to sleep. Then it happened again -- the banging and pounding and shouting my name. So once again I got up off my table and pulled up the shutter. And again, no one. Then, a little later, it happened a third time, and not knowing what to do I still got up and opened the door, and when I pulled it up over my head, HE was out there, waiting for me. THE DEVIL.
He was dressed in a black suit, like a tuxedo, you know? With a red tie and sash that had smoke coming from behind the material. His eyes were like cold blue flames. He beckoned to me with his finger -- he was wearing white gloves -- and he said my name and told me to come walk with him, we would go have a drink together.
Oh no! I said, I will not walk with you and you should leave me alone!
He just laughed and I saw sparks flying off his teeth as he shook his head. But I slammed the shutter closed and knelt down to lock it shut and stayed there on my knees praying until I fell asleep crouched against the metal door.
The next day I went to a doctor my wife had been pleading with me to go see about my drinking. I told him about the devil coming to see me last night, and he shook his head, saying that this was all because of my drinking, didn't I know that?
Oh yes, I said. But I did not say what I thought -- that the devil really had come because of my drinking, and he wanted to take me out with him for more drinking. I just let the doctor think I believed what he thought, that it was a delirium and hallucination -- that was what he called it.
But I stopped drinking. It was hard, but I stopped. That made my wife happy. Me too, after the trembling and pain finally went away.
For a long time I thought that the devil really had come for me. But now I believe it was only like the doctor said -- a delirium. An hallucination. After all, doesn't Saint Paul say that very few evils are caused by real devils? That most of our evil feelings come from passions making war within our own bodies, between our members?
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Copyright 2001 Daniel Charles Thomas | email: thomas@masinternet.zzn.com OR tijuanagringo@yahoo.com |