dr. mengele, pt. 1

when i was younger, satan used to appear at my bedside nearly every night. of course, he couldn't be there every night, he said, because my soul mattered so little to him, but he made an effort, in part due to the rapport we struck up, to be there as much as possible. often we'd go on journeys, flitting about via teleportation, to places i never thought imaginable and he'd show me things--sights i'd never seen. it was a magical time in my life. but there was always a barrier of dissension in our relationship--a source of irritation for me, being so young and stubborn--as satan was always going on and on about wanting my soul. he promised that my life here on earth would be filled with happiness if i'd only forfeit this one trifling facet of my being. i, of course, knew from the stories my mother told me that this was forbidden. she warned me about satan. and i always listened. but i couldn't help feeling some sort of sympathy for the guy. he looked like death, to be perfectly honest, and went out of his way to entertain me on a regular basis. it was a great friendship, in my opinion. but a one-way street all the same. i had nothing to offer satan--nothing i could give freely or wanted to give up freely, save for my time and energy--time, of course, i could have been sleeping, getting adequate rest before school.
eventually, it got to be a burden--this constant horsing around every night. i'd go to the schoolhouse spent and lethargic, my eyes dragging to the floor. it was a nightmare--the daytime, anyway. but at night, i couldn't help it. the possibilities were seemingly endless. satan always had some new scheme or fit of inspiration up his sleeve. one day, we'd journey back and time and hide in the bushes as dinosaurs brawled like savages right before our very eyes. the next, he'd take me to the future where, despite conventional foresight, people never rode around in flying cars or ceased making wars in the name of God and selfishness. it was quite a stroke of good fortune to be selected, by satan himself, to see all these wondrous sights and experience all these things.
of course, as all things go, it got old after a while. i grew tired of the constant assault of new stimuli and voiced this to satan. he knelt at my bedside pleadingly and implored me to join him for just one more adventure. i agreed, though reluctantly, and we set about in typical fashion.

tbc...