A friend of mine that’s oft described as strange and a bit droll,
shared with me this tale about the Devil and his soul.

He said Satan appeared one day and looked him in the eye,
and said “Do what I now demand, or tomorrow you will die!

I will take your soul and cut your miserable life in half,
unless you can now find a way to make me smile and laugh!”

My friend wanted to verify what he thought he had heard.
He asked Satan to clarify the meaning of his words.

“Make you smile?” my friend repeated. “Make you laugh you say?”
“That’s right,” the Devil answered. “Or I’ll take your soul away.”

My friend did what he had to do to save his cherished hide.
He shared with Satan part of his own deep disturbed dark side.

He begged, “Please Mr. Devil, let me cover your whole face.
Then I’ll lead you to a special sick and secret place.”

The Devil nodded yes and my friend did what he had said.
He placed a black cloth bag over the top of Satan’s head.

They drove until they reached a place where Satan could then hear
cries of pain and agony and shrieks of horrible fear!

The yells of terror were constant, and in a very short while
the Devil didn’t laugh at all but definitely began to smile.

My friend said, “Mr. Satan, let me help you have more fun.
You’ll be able to watch a bit right after I am done.”

He cut two little eyes holes thru which Satan could then peek,
and tiny holes for sound on Satan’s left and right red cheek.

He guided Satan’s head so he could see thru one grey door,
and watch the slow unfolding of a truly hideous horror!

A young lad, Tim, stuck in a chair, his head forced to stay low
was crying out in pain and fear and breathing very slow.

A big man stood above the boy, a sharp hook in his grasp.
He cut Tim’s flesh and made blood flow. Tim let out a gasp.

A stab with a long needle then made Tim cry out in pain.
And while Tim moaned and sobbed the big man stabbed him once again!

For an hour the poor boy wailed trapped there in that chair,
and for that hour the devil stared enjoying himself there.

And sometimes when Tim gave a shriek exceptionally loud,
the Devil’s smile widened underneath his black head shroud.

And once as Satan contemplated poor Tim’s blood and tears,
he said, “This is more fun than I have had in many years!”

And then came a horrendous scream and Satan finally buckled.
Still in his shroud but very loud he snickered and then chuckled!

The suffering of an innocent lad had done the Devil in.
He stood there looking at my friend with his most evil grin.

“You laughed!” my friend cried out. “It was a laugh that I did hear!”
“You’ve won,” Satan replied to him. “I shall now disappear.”

And in an instant he was gone. My friend’s hands were still shaking.
And then he calmed and went back home when his body stopped quaking.

This story I tell is totally true, though difficult to believe.
It clearly is not something a sane person could conceive.

I pray you find the tale neither too sick nor banal.
It happened while Tim’s dentist dad did Timmy’s root canal.