Story of the Elephant Legged God

After two days of hectic travel by foot through mountainous tropical forest, Guna and his Mother Kamala reached the village of Kosavi before sunset. Animal sacrifices and prayers to thank the God for Guna’s return ended immediately. Soon the mountains echoed to the rhythm from a myriad of drums and horns. Plumes of smoke swirled over the mountains from burning camphor and frankincense to welcome their new leader, their Messiah!
 
                              ________
 The village of Kosavi is an isolated plateau located in the middle of the picturesque Western Ghats mountain ranges in Southern India. For several centuries, no one knew that such a place existed. To villagers on other sides of the mountain ranges, someone living in the middle of the thick forest amongst dangerous wild animals and aggressive cobras was unthinkable. Not even the bravest and the most adventurous hunters had dared to set foot in the dangerous forest so far away from their villages.
Thus, this Kosavi community sustained itself independently and far from every other civilization. The Kosavians had developed acres of farmland that grew rice and vegetables in surplus. The forest streams never ran out of fish, nor did the valleys got short of wild game for them to feed on.
 
But the villagers lived from generation to generation in superstition and ignorance under the influence of a lineage of wicked village priests. The village priest had the final say on everything. His decisions were unquestionable. Through his scare tactics, the present priest even curbed the influence of Swami, the wise old man among the locals.
 “Going near him will make you possessed. He is the messenger of evil.” That is what he said about Swami. But the people of Kosavi sought Swami’s advice secretly. They knew he was the only one who could predict eclipses and storms accurately. The Village Priest hated him as Swami questioned his malicious practices and decisions that were based on selfish motives.
 
 
 The whole village market was scattered with thousands of boulders of varying size. Guna strode slowly, moving one foot at a time towards the largest of those. He struggled to climb, lift his massive leg and feet that looked like giant sea turtles with five heads. But the people watched him with reverence and respect as he climbed. His supersized leg had several small and big growths hanging down like the thousand-breasted demon goddess of the jungle. The red and black marks on the growths resembled the human skull necklace around the neck of the Goddess. 
Some villagers moved close to offer him help in climbing. They even thought, touching his stuffed skin bags would bring blessings to them and to their offspring. Guna looked back and signaled by an ominous look to warn them to stay away. They witnessed the intense anger still in him for the horrible deeds the villagers did to him and to his mother.
 
 Like an angry king, Guna proclaimed, “Elephantiasis that is what the doctor from the city said. A parasitic worm from a mosquito bite caused this swelling! I have not been cursed! And I am not possessed by demons!”
Now villagers bowed their heads in shame. One by one, they kneeled before him on the rough and rocky village square. Tears rolled down their cheeks and fell on the ground to wash away the guilt of misdeeds done through serving the wicked priest.
 
This surprising event and the Godlike persona came upon Guna after going through incredible suffering and pain induced by the cruel village priest. The animosity of the village priest towards Guna and his mother had started some years ago. Guna’s father Shiva was one of the greatest hunters of the Kosavi. His eyes were as intense as burning coal. No animal could withstand for more than a few seconds a stare from Shiva before they would turn and run away. But then Shiva disappeared during a hunting trip. After three days, some hunters found his headless body near the Sivagiri Hills on the banks of Periyar River. 
 
“It was the callous Chempuli, the malevolent big cat. Only he has the wicked brain to trick and kill a hunter like Shiva. He is dangerous and dead set on eating human flesh,” Said the soft-spoken Swami who knew so well the forest and its dwellers.
“No! It’s the Mountain Goddess who sucked his blood and fed him to the beasts. He crossed into her divine territory where no human is allowed,” Priest said as he shivered with anger. “And the only way to please her is to make the widow and her child my slaves.” He then laughed as violently as the roaring wild wind.
 
That night Guna and his mother grabbed all their belongings and fled. They tramped through the thick forest to find a place where they could live peacefully. After a time, they reached a land late at night from which they could hear the roar of the ocean and could breathe in the calmness of a fresh breeze. They slept under a tree.
When they woke up in the morning, they saw tiny lakes and wetlands everywhere. The good villagers there offered them shelter. The villagers were in fact happy to see the new migrants moving in. People had been leaving the place, in fear of a frightening pandemic disease presently affecting the villagers, something which resulted in the people there suffering enormous swelling of their limbs, an affliction that never went away. The choice seemed to be running away or living in fear.
 
After a few months of living in the marshy land, Guna’s feet started swelling until it looked like an elephant’s feet. Frightened Kamala told her son “Maybe this land is not for us. Even if we must struggle, we should return to our old village.” And soon they began the long journey back to Kosavi.
As they approached the village Priest saw them and started yelling. “The cursed ones are here! The ones who scorned the Mountain Goddess. Stone them to death!” After the wise man Swami mediated, he agreed on reducing the punishment. Guna must live on top of the balding mountains having no shade from sunshine or protection from rain. During day time, he should roll big boulders to the top of the mountain. His mother was sentenced to feed them by begging leftovers from the villagers.
His feet bulging day by day, Guna ignored hot sun and pelting rain and continued to push the stones one by one up to the top of the mountain.
 
Now as the days passed by, village children started to disappear. Villagers were led to suspect that it was the widow and her son was behind these disappearances. Villagers took turns and secretly watched Guna and his mother. And in doing so, they witnessed the truth.
One evening, some villagers watching saw a tiger coming from the forest by the Bolding Mountain pass. And in a few hours, the village priest’s only son disappeared. The village priest, in trying to save his child, lost his own leg to the tiger.
 
The frightened villagers ran to Swami for help. He knew only someone who can see the tiger from the hill can help to scare the tiger away. He used that opportunity to help Guna and his mother.
 
“The true God is punishing you for listening to the wicked priest,” he told them, “and for praying to the evil Mountain Goddess. Repent and pray for mercy. Plead for the widow and her son to forgive you”
 
The villagers went up to cry for help from Guna on the mountain, pleading to him for mercy. He ignored them and kept stroking his blemished elephant leg.
But that evening, when the sun hid behind the faraway tall trees, Guna waited patiently on the hill for the tiger’s arrival. When it was close to midnight and in the darkness, he saw two shiny eyes coming from the forest. He waited for the tiger to be right below where he stood; and at the perfect moment, he began pushing down the mighty boulders one by one. The panicked tiger paused for a moment to look at the direction of attack, and then turned back to race. But the heavy rocks moved more rapidly than his legs and crushed the big cat to death.
 
Meanwhile the villagers heard what sounded like the mountain come crashing down on them in the night, and they ran for their lives. But the next day, when they came back to see their losses, they couldn’t believe their eyes. The lifeless tiger lay beneath a boulder. And Swami, who had not left the village the night before, was smiling when he came forward.
 “Guna is our savior!” he told the people. “He saved us from the anger of God. He has now gone to the big city to find a doctor to check his leg. Let us pray until he returns -and celebrate when he is back.”
 
The villagers lived happily ever after under Guna, the elephant-legged village chief. If you ever get a chance to visit the village of Kosavi do not miss it. You will see a temple for Lord Guna on top of the hill. Join the happy villagers and devotees to take part in the ritual of rolling big boulders to the top of the mountain to please God Guna. The God with the elephant leg! And of course no tiger dared to come down from the forest to Kosavi village ever again!

The Last Prophecy (57 Word story!)

The Prophet uttered his last words.
“The world is doomed. Sun will be hidden with black clouds forever.
Fire and darkness will swallow earth’s every creature.”
His followers in scrubs listened reverently bowing their head.

“Yes, that’s it.”

The unchained prophet began his next journey to an unknown planet on a
stretcher etched “Saint Joseph’s Psychiatric Hospital.”

English Story: The Living Light

With teardrops trapped in his wrinkled face, Johan walked away from the waves that cleansed his tainted memories. Hoping the next storm will bring an end to his sixteen years of wait. He looked at the rusty old lantern on the sand for a moment, his companion in pain and sorrow giving brightness and consolation to his monotonous life. He engrossed every possible grin of its light in to his thick cataract layered saggy eyes webbed in red thick veins ready to burst at any time. He engaged in serious conversation with the bluish red flickering flame that he thought resembled like his wife’s eye. He imagined she was looking at him through that waning light to signal her whereabouts.  He looked at it all day and night when he felt lonely in his windowless dark shack.  He never let that timeworn blackened wick that witnessed his dreary life dry nor did he let the flame die. The flame lit by his wife Rose more than sixteen years ago was the only thing that kept him going this long.

The salty breeze buzzing in the ears from behind pushed him forward making him shake like the dead leaf clinging to the branch just before it fell in the wind.  The long pointed nose, wide hairy ears and the last remaining strand of his long grey hair left on his bald scalp made him look like the ghost of an alien sea creature from the past.  He picked the lantern and walked forward with withered legs and held the lantern close to his chest like the mother duck protecting it’s duckling under her wings. On the nearby rocks used as sea wall he could hear the squawk of Seagulls. He walked as fast as he could pulling his legs from the wet sand that locked his shoes and tried to swallow him in to it. He saw the crack in the east clouds that was preparing to paint the blurred sky in magnificent colors for the glorious entry of the rising sun.

At times the breeze turned gusty pushed him forward to make him weightless and flying. He closed his eyes while walking in the familiar sand like a little child. His head felt heavy no more and his mind felt clearer than the cloudless blue skies in the mountains. The sand under his feet no more hindered his walk. To relax himself, he tried to smile, like someone who never smiled.  He felt very odd in attempting to smile with his weak muscles on his cheeks that ignored his feelings; but nothing stopped his delusions.  He smelled the scented oil his wife used to use and felt the touch of her fingers on his forehead. He freed his right hand moving the lantern to the left and stretched it to hold her closer to him. He forgot himself and the world around him.

On reaching home, Johan with extreme care and shivery hands opened the side cap of the lantern. Using a plastic funnel he filled oil shook the funnel without wasting a single drop of oil. He capped it back and wiped the lamp with his bare hand to make sure it was shiny and felt the same way as always.  He looked in tothe light from the lamp without taking his eyes off and stepped back in a partial sitting position grabbing for the wooden armchair and settled on it.  Rose’s eyes stared at him.  Memories of the last days together with her…  He felt he was watching a movie with the colorful memories of his love Rose in it. 

When it came to his wife, Johan’s memory never heeded to age or time. No one loved like they loved each other. Rose and Johan celebrated every day of their life and, each day, hesitated to leave for another as perfection cannot be replaced easily with another one. Every morning, Rose kept the calendar circled with the days they were together, the beautiful days they never wanted to get erased from their memories.  She collected the beautiful and rarest shells and pearls from the shore making their dream nest as if they were birds.  She ran to the shore searching for the rarest of the rarest of them in the dark stormy nights. The Thunder in the skies made the pearls pop, the lightning gave them radiance and the storm made these beautiful dreams of her wash to the shores for her. Only Rose knew the deep secrets of the ocean.  The ocean loved her as it knew she can only love like it.

Johan’s life was made to live in dreams far away from reality where Rose built castles to live and golden wings for him to fly. She took care of everything she could think of and he could never think of living a moment without her. The past sixteen years, he felt emptiness every moment but filled it with the dreams they dreamed together.  Johan looked at the half built pearl nest made with the rarest and the most beautiful pearls and shells.

Johan never noticed his wife had a fading memory.  He thought it was their love that blinded her to forget things.  Sometimes, she forgot to eat or cook but even lost her way home in the dark from the store few miles away.  It was the doctor in the County hospital that said, Rose was losing her memory faster than the ocean current that takes the shores by surprise; but he never worried about it as he knew he will be there for her always.  Then… with few tears rolling down from his impassive eyes… he tried his best to get out from the past but failed and…   Sixteen years ago on a stormy night like the one yesterday, she went looking for the precious and the rarest ones.  The lightning and the thunder that never stopped till morning made her forget about everything but filling her velvet bag with the precious pearls that were washed to shore by the roaring waves.  Rose never came back that night, leaving Johan alone… waiting for her forever.

He took the large Conch shell that he got from the sea shore the day after the night Rose went missing that he kept next to the half built pearl nest. He held the spire of it next to his ears, where the sound of the ocean was encapsulated in it and strained all his muscles on his body and listened hard for Rose’s voice trapped in it.  

English Story: The Weeping Devil

The poignant Devil wept all alone in hell. Like the rain that never stops, his troubled mind was immersed in the sea of distress. No one saw his oozing tears. Heat from boiling oil evaporated them, leaving a smudge of misery on his cheeks. Remorselessly, he continued his duties in the place where there is no day and night. Just fire, scorching heat and darkness; hopelessness scented in burned oil. Like an impassive machine, he fried the souls of the ruthless and the despicable, arriving endlessly from the earth, in to the deep fryer of blazing boiling oil. No other devils lent him a hand to reduce his burden nor sighed in compassion. They ignored him as if he never existed. Even the protector and custodian of hell, Lucifer, pretended he never saw devil’s sufferings, the dark circles under his eyes or the vanished charm on his livid face.

Devil always admired his master Lucifer. He may be dishonorable to the world, the one who hugs you and kisses you then stabs you from behind. But the world doesn't know the real Lucifer; he never betrays those who trust him. He never deceived his folks nor does he break norms, the basic etiquette and the principles of subordinate master relationship. Devil never loathed his master nor did he complain; but succumbed everything to his fate. 

He looked at his reflection in the oil that became like a mirror just before it turned fire, like the stillness before the storm. He couldn't stop sobbing seeing his repulsive face and the veins ready to burst in his eyes. For a moment, uncontrollable anger steamed up in his mind against God. He bit his teeth and the skin on his face stretched in strain. The anger spawned from loneliness, a feeling of being lost and ignored in his never ending confinement. “Giving almost all the powers as him, why did God make Lucifer the ultimate of Evil? For God, who is powerful and the seat of wisdom, was this an oversight from over confidence or is this his brilliant decision to remind people of his existence forever?" It puzzled the Devil. He couldn’t find the reason for God creating him unlike other devils. A devil with a soft mind, a brain that never stops worrying and a heart filled with emotions that can pump blood.

Devil felt extremely unhappy in his existence. He was annoyed in God’s decision in making him the way resulting in every one else feeling jealous of him, leaving him lonely in the overcrowded hell. He hated to be part of the mandatory group activities in the hell, keeping silence while everyone else prayed and chanted the praise to Lucifer. Devil kept his ears sealed with his skinny fingers. Even then he couldn’t stop hearing nor resist praying with everyone else the prayer Lucifer taught them. The chant that filled hell every moment in a devilish symphony echoed in his heart. Even though he didn’t want to, he chanted.

      Our master who art in Hell
      Wicked be thy name and thy people
      The world be soon be thy kingdom
      Thy will be done on earth as it is in hell
      Give the world tyranny this day  
      And enable all to sin,
      as the world fills with misery
      fill the earth with temptations,  
      But deliver us and the world from good
      Amen.

Like a volcano ready to erupt, the devil’s brain boiled in the magma of confusion. His mind looked for a soft spot to break to release the pressure building in him. His mind pondered again and again for clues. Why did God create him so special and different from the hell dwellers? None of the devils can think, they are wired with the brain to do the same things again and again without questioning. They have a brain without reasoning capability and a heartless body. The worry free devils have a life easy as angels except they live in hell. They just praise Lucifer without boredom and get people to sin placing traps and crafting situations.  “God split my brain for reasoning and emotions that made me the most vulnerable creature in hell. May be I am just a toy for God the Mastermind, his joke, a creation for everyone else to laugh at," Devil blubbered. His mind searched for answers, answers that would justify his findings. As he solved the puzzle it evoked more questions. Why did God create Lucifer to rule the hell? Why did God create me as a devil with the mind like his and man. Am I a guinea pig for his future creations?

 ‘May be when the hell without boundaries fills with the wicked from earth, God wants to try a new species of devils that can be controlled better.’ His uncontrollable thoughts climbed far beyond the highest walls in a place where literally there were no boundaries or walls.

Everywhere else in hell, the emotionless and the thought deprived devils kept working, getting their devilish jobs completed skillfully. The shrewd Lucifer controlled their minds and actions. The depressed devil kept poking his index finger in the boiling oil hurting himself. No one noticed his broken heart nor saw the burn on the tip of his finger. What a hell, in the busy hell no one has the time to care for others. May be if they did, it won’t be as hell as it is.

Devil had the urge to run away. He knew he couldn't from the constraints that chained him to hell. There is no other place worse than hell where a devil can go and will be accepted.

“Worse than hell!! Can such a place ever exist?" he screamed.

Frustrated, the Devil threw his giant fork to turn souls in the fire as far as he could. It landed several yards away standing straight up pointing to the gloomy grey sky. Devil lay down on the ground curling the tip of his tail making a pillow. He stared at the starless dreadful sky above the hell. Closed his eyes for a moment… for the first time; Devil felt peace and tranquility. He forgot about the boiling oil and the mounting souls that were arriving from the earth. His mind was like an ocean that suddenly turned calm. Devil experienced serenity unknown in hell.

Devil’s mind, body and brain betrayed him for a moment, a horrendous betrayal in Lucifer’s kingdom. A reprehensible betrayal! It was the greatest sin of hell that no devil can ever think of. The unthinkable! The unthinkable in Hell! Devil broke the First commandment of hell, ‘Thou shall have no other Master than Lucifer and denounce every other power.'
The hell came to a halt!!

The silence created a vacuum in hell. All the devils were baffled and didn’t know what to do as they never experienced such a thing as this.

Lucifer screamed "What the Hell!!!"

Devils continued their work chanting the prayer they were taught. The hell came back to hell as it always has.

Devil stood bowing to on his knees, with tears rolling down his cheeks. With a trembling voice he prayed, "Oh God the creator of Devils and Angels, the most merciful and powerful, the only one who is praiseworthy, take me out of this hell. This hell is filled with misery, darkness, fear and snakes." Devil prayed repeatedly without break for a long time. He didn't know how long he prayed. In hell, no one knows the time and seasons except for Lucifer. Devil became the first one to pray to God for his mercy. The only one to question the supremacy of Lucifer from his kingdom; where no rays from the sun or the light from the moon can reach. God, more merciful than the ocean and pours love on all of his creations heard Devil’s prayer. The poker faced God who is emotionless in happiness and sorrow felt proud in Devil, his creation. The change in God’s mood surprised the Arch angel Gabriel for a moment. She sent signals to all angels everywhere. The Angels who knew only to praise God stopped singing for a moment to gather before God in excitement. God smiled at them for the first time! All the angels and the good souls in heaven started singing praises to God louder and joyous than ever.

The celebrations in heaven echoed everywhere in the universe and among all creations. Thousands of shooting stars were seen from all over the earth displaying the greatest light show in the universe. The oceans roared louder than ever resonating with the angels singing in heaven. The deserts that never rained got drenched for days. Soon it was covered in green and exotic flowers. Trees and plants that hadn't bloomed in years flowered to make the forest and the hills to dance with the rainbow. The hell was shaken too by the joy in heaven. But Lucifer sat glued to his throne and the devils continued chanting the praise to their master while doing their jobs. But even in this joyful time, the wicked and the

sinners continued their deeds upsetting the righteous. The hell never fall short for souls to be fried. God’s creations and its balance never get disturbed. The greatest planner maintains that at all times and forever. God being extremely happy enjoyed devil’s prayer like a father listening to his only son. He appeared to the devil in his dream. He purposely chose not to appear in person to the devil as his footsteps in hell would turn it into heaven. It would be chaotic to have no place for the souls of the wicked and the sinners to go. Of course in that case, devils and the angels in heaven will make heaven a hell, way worse than the earth. God knows and sees everything ahead of time. There is nothing that God doesn't know. The God appeared in Devil’s dream walked in front holding the pointed and skinny finger tips of the devil. They walked for a very long time. Devil didn't know where they were going but knew God knows where he was going. God who is always very serious in nature did not utter any words. He didn't want any of his words to go in vain and taken as silly by Devil. A flood of thoughts flashed in Devil’s mind like lighting without the rain. He avoided all thoughts from growing and tried to maintain good thoughts. Devil was really smart and aware that God knew everything including his thoughts.

The darkness of the hell gave way for God on their way with a silvery light. The ugly stones looked like diamonds. The trees and plants spread flowers and tender leaves on their path and it felt like silk. A cool breeze with fresh jasmine fragrance rubbed them and the Devil felt he was floating. The hell without border opened its frontier for God and the Devil by splitting the mountains of dark clouds with colorful flashes. To the devil, everything felt like a dream. Devil couldn't believe what he saw. There was no darkness. Everything was seen crystal clear and pure as forest spring water. The clouds looked like large white cotton bundles in the enticing blue sky. He saw the sun shining, the animals running around and the trees dancing to the tunes of nature in the soothing breeze. The sound of the waterfall and the dew on the grass made his admiration for God immense.

Suddenly, a bumble bee flew across his eyes blocking his vision for a moment, he squinted cursing the bee. He couldn't believe the angel who was all alone in the crowd turned back and looked at him. Their eyes locked for a moment. The Angel smiled at him like an enchanting pearl just popped the shell in the deep sea. Devil’s heart pumped harder than ever with the sound of thunder. He felt the heat of a forest in a blaze all over his nervous body. He saw a million red roses in her background and golden stars dancing around her face. Devil kept looking at her while she walked away. He walked few steps forward, waved hoping she would turn back to look at him again. The angel walked faster than the breeze and then disappeared.
A new feeling that he never experienced seeded in him. A new mood with rhythms and melodies filled his heart. He saw the wild flowers smiling at him. He was in love; he was a devil in love, the first devil to fall in love. 

He kneeled down in the direction the angel had gone. He balanced himself with his tail to stay straight in the wind with a heart dipped in the sweetest honey surrounded in rose petals. He closed his eyes with his fingers crossed as humble as always. He thought about the Angel that God created for him. He was not sure if God created him for her or it’s the other way. Devil couldn't control his happiness. He laughed and laughed. He laughed and laughed lying down next to the burning oil and the fire engulfing everything around it. The souls of the ruthless and despicable kept piling near him. The other devils continued their work and ignored the devil in love. Devil laughed and laughed... He didn't know how long he laughed, but he kept laughing louder and louder.

Astonished and spellbound in God’s power, Devil kneeled before him and bowed his head. Devil bent like a reed in wind till his horns touched the Green grass. He felt the dew drops and grass blades on the tip of his nose. He breathed in the freshness of the morning along with the fragrance from the newly bloomed flowers. He stayed in that position for a long time, a time he never had any sense of. He lifted his head to look at God who had then disappeared. Devil didn’t panic even though he couldn’t find God in the vicinity; he did not feel the fear inherited from hell. He knew the good God will never desert him. Devil stayed there for a while, looking around and enjoying the magnificence around him. The blue light soothed his eyes. Next moment he walked towards the tree with the leaves shaped like hearts covered with red flowers all over it. He saw little birds and butterflies kissing those flowers and drinking the nectar. He sat under the tree where the cool breeze hugged him. He felt the chill all over his body and the hair on his tail stood up. For someone who lived in the blistering fire even a hot wind will be soothing; a mild cool breeze is an amazing experience beyond imagination.

Devil waited for God, but he did not come back to him. He did not get angry at God but was thankful and remained hopeful in patience. Devil didn’t know how many days and nights passed as he never knew to count nor even cared to know. He enjoyed every moment; but never felt hungry or thirsty as devils don’t eat or drink.

One morning before the shadow of the tree fell on him, Devil saw a herd of duck-like creatures coming in his direction. In the hell there were no birds or large animals but snakes and scorpions, so he didn’t have any idea. Devil’s Brain worked vigorously guessing what species was approaching him. He was not satisfied with the answers received from his brain as nothing made sense to him. The restless Devil kept feeding through his thoughts to figure out the place he was in and what the approaching herd was. "A place like this so bright, cool and joyful has to be nothing but heaven."

“Yes... It is indeed Heaven!" Devil exclaimed. 

He noticed halos and wings on them and knew for sure they were angels. Devil couldn't believe his eyes. Devil got up in a split second and stood at an angle hiding his tail. Like a humble, down to earth devil he waited. He had a very nice smile causing him to look as if his eye lids were partially closed. Even before his mind started attempting to figure out why God brought him to heaven and about his plans, the angels reached right before him. He scanned angels one by one. All the angels walked in an orderly manner, in an elegance ignoring the devil. They all had charming happy faces, radiating joy.

To Devil’s surprise, at the end of the herd few steps behind the main crowd he saw an angel; an angel who was different from the others. She was not smiling; but had an expression like the one he sees in his reflection in the boiling oil. A face like Mona Lisa, with an expression that is hard to explain, it is not happy, it is not sad but everything together. He stared at her with the heart pounding like a ghost train passing through a mountain pass and his face followed her like the compass turned to the north forever. Without him knowing, the angels face was being etched in his heart by the fingers that paints rainbow in the sky. 

Suddenly, a bumble bee flew across his eyes blocking his vision for a moment, he squinted cursing the bee. He couldn't believe the angel who was all alone in the crowd turned back and looked at him. Their eyes locked for a moment. The Angel smiled at him like an enchanting pearl just popped the shell in the deep sea. Devil’s heart pumped harder than ever with the sound of thunder. He felt the heat of a forest in a blaze all over his nervous body. He saw a million red roses in her background and golden stars dancing around her face. Devil kept looking at her while she walked away. He walked few steps forward, waved hoping she would turn back to look at him again. The angel walked faster than the breeze and then disappeared.

A new feeling that he never experienced seeded in him. A new mood with rhythms and melodies filled his heart. He saw the wild flowers smiling at him. He was in love; he was a devil in love, the first devil to fall in love. He kneeled down in the direction the angel had gone. He balanced himself with his tail to stay straight in the wind with a heart dipped in the sweetest honey surrounded in rose petals. He closed his eyes with his fingers crossed as humble as always. He thought about the Angel that God created for him. He was not sure if God created him for her or it’s the other way. Devil couldn’t control his happiness. He laughed and laughed. He laughed and laughed lying down next to the burning oil and the fire engulfing everything around it. The souls of the ruthless and despicable kept piling near him. The other devils continued their work and ignored the devil in love. Devil laughed and laughed... He didn’t know how long he laughed, but he kept laughing louder and louder.