He who always gets away


John Smith was always that tie and briefcase kind of guy. An unscrupulous man. One of those over achievers who always had to be the best. Yes, he was a very successful business man and money seemed to never run short. Yet he still seemed as though there was something missing, like a puzzle that looks completely finished until you notice the one lost piece right in the middle. Maybe it was that he was single and alone, or his job, or maybe even the long hours he worked. It was hard to tell, but there was something.

One night john was leaving the office at his usual time, when he saw an old man walking down the hall. The man was dirty, smelled horrible, and he walked unsteadily with a cane. John began to wonder why he was walking around the building, especially at eleven o’ clock. He quickly shook the thought. After all, this was New York City, bums were all over the place.

“Sir can I help you?”, john questioned as he slowly approached the man. There was no reply. “Sir?”, john asked again. The old man turned to john with a large grin on his face. The expression alone sent a chill up johns spine instantly. The feeling scared him. It was eerie, like the way the clouds cover a full moon and cast a deathly glow on everything beneath it.

“hello Mr. smith”, the old man said in a gravelly voice. “How are you doing tonight?” John, confused, began to wonder who this man really was and how he knew his last name.

“Umm do I know you?”,

“Oh yes”, replied the old man, “you know me quite well. Anyways that’s beside the point. I’m here to make you a deal.”

John could almost see the confused look on his own face as though a mirror were being held up in front of him. Before he could even respond, the old man went on.

“You see, I know the key to all of your unhappiness”, the man harshly stated.

“Oh?” john asked with astounded curiosity.

“Yes!”, the old man yelled excitedly.

“I could give you all the power you want in this company, you could be the most successful man here!”

John stood shocked. How could this one man know the thing he longed for the most in this world?

“How is that?”, John said inquisitively.

“well you could help me, yes help me accomplish what I need in this life!”

“what does that even mean?”, John questioned in an ambivalent tone. The old man pulled out a folded up wrinkled sheet of paper.

“this explains it all”, the old man replied. “ now look over it quickly. Quickly! I am in a hurry!” John started to read but the man kept pushing, and pushing for him to hurry. Thinking it was all some stupid joke, he signed the bottom of the old paper and put it in his pocket.

“well”, the man paused, “you just sold your sould to the devil” before john could even ask another question, the man had turned and was walking away. This time he walked swiftly and without a cane.

“wait!” john exclaimed. The man ignored his calling and turned the corner. John began to run after him, only to find he had dissappeard. The feeling suddenly came over him again, that eerie feeling he had felt in the beginning. He tried to just shake it off, and went home for the night.

The next day walking into the office was quite odd. People were treating him like the most important man in the building, like a king on his throne while everyone bows at his feet. A little weirded out, he kept walking to his desk to find a name card that read ‘John smith: president”.’ How could this happen? How could this change over night?’ John thought to himself. Then he suddenly remembered the old man. The paper, it was real! Trying to relax, john decided to go on with his day as normal as it possibly could be. People were walking in and out of his office all day, asking him questions, delivering packages, and even refilling his coffee by the hour.

“wow, I could really get used to this”, john vicerally stated as he leaned back in his office chair. The day of pampering was over and john whistled a happy tune as he shut the lights off and locked up the building. The night was cold and dark, and walking out to his car was a little frightening. Suddenly he felt it. It was that same eerie feeling that had washed over him last night. He started to walk a little faster with each step. He saw that he was approaching a woman making her was towards him on the sidewalk. As he neared her, he was instantly overcome with greed as he grabbed the woman, yanked her purse off her shoulder, and took off running.
The woman began to scream for help, but john kept running to his car. He got home with $400 dollars in his pocket, and a ‘new’ ipod touch. Still filled with greed, john went to bed. The next day the greed feeling had gone. He began to not only feel guilt an remorse, but also fear. What if he lost everything? He went into his office and everything was just as the day before. He was still pampered, and treated perfectly. On his desk was a fresh coffee, and a card sitting underneath it. John opened it, and his heart sank. It read: ‘thank you, your soul is in good hands’.

John got up and ran to his secretary, asking her who had left the note. She had no idea. He went back to his desk, filled with fear, and tried to go on with his day. day after day John lived a double life. President of a large successful company, but yet a criminal. The crime didn’t stay at just stealing. It led to drugs, lies, gangs, and even murder. John had become the complete opposite of what he was before. In the moment he was an immoral creature who seemed to have no heart, but after was haunted by guilt, and fear. Yet he would walk into work and still be treated like a king, never watched surreptitiously, like before. Did any of that matter anymore, or did the guilt dirve him to insanity? John sold his soul for something petty and will forever live in hell on earth. Once again, the devil won the fight.