. . .

Fiddler

A brief skittering of notes came from the fiddle. Kathy watched as her fingers moved the bow without her volition. She had made a fool's bargain, but now she had to stick with it.

Not that there was any need for the second part of the pact. This was hell already - to produce music to charm the hearts and minds of all who listened, without herself having any input into the process whatsoever. All she did was touch the instrument, whatever it was, and then her hands and body moved to play it. It was as if she were an automaton, a puppet moving to invisible strings. As if that weren't enough, she couldn't hear her own music, not even when recordings were played. Her name was a household word now, and she was weary to death of it all.

The performance finished at last, and her body released her to her own devices. Kathy staggered slightly, as she always did, and bowed mechanically as the crowd gave her the usual ovation. She stumbled off the stage towards her dressing room.

A pair of arms intercepted her. Kathy looked up at the beautiful young man who blocked her path.

"Are you ready now to take the final step?" he asked.

"No. No. Suicide is a sin, the greatest sin, the one from which there is no possible redemption."

His lip curved upward. "Aren't you in an odd position to be speaking of sin?"

"I pray nightly!"

"And nightly do I hear them. I, not the God you have foresaken. And, no, I will not deliver you until and unless you finish the bargain."

She had been wrong. Now that it was late, far too late, she knew her mistake. A cry tore out of her. "I only wanted to make music!"

"And you have, my sweet. Beautiful music, music that will live on through the ages, has come from your hands, been played by your fingers. You have been blessed with talent on every instrument imaginable. All you need do is touch anything from a grand piano to a tuned saw and you can play it with the utmost skill, and audiences will listen, entranced. In what way have I not fulfilled my part?"

Kathy slumped, her brief flare of rage gone. From somewhere, she mustered the strength to speak. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what I do. I won't kill myself, though. You're just going to have to do it for me."

For the first time, his face crumpled slightly. "Kill you? What have I done that deserves the name of murderer from you? I have fulfilled your every wish, I have given you all that you asked for, and you do nothing but insult me! Remember, it was you who requested my aid, not I who came to you, begging for you to make a bargain." He began to pace, gesturing widely. "Why must you blame me for all your difficulties? I do not stand on your shoulder whispering dark lies into your ears. I do not fill you with your lusts and your passions. I was not your creator, I am not your temptor, and if, when I bargain, I do my best to twist the bargain that you get no joy of it, what of that? It is no worse than you have painted me, and far better than most depictions."

Kathy watched, spellbound by his ravings. He grew louder for a time, embellishing on his theme.

"I was an angel, once. The highest of the high, the holiest of the holies. We stood high above, watching as God created heaven and earth. After, I turned to him, and I asked him what place there was in his creations for us. He told me that my job was to inspire stories and tales, myths and legends. I was to go down to the earth, and further down, and there to create myself my own place, and all God asked of me was that I wander the earth from time to time, showing my power to the men that walked the surface. That bargain seemed like a fair one to me, as yours did to you.

"Little did I know what God had planned. Little did I know that on earth and below it, I would be denied sight of heaven. Little did I know that the tales of my exploits would be twisted, so that I would always and eternally the villain. I have tried to do good deeds. I have saved children from untimely deaths, I have cured diseases, I have fed the hungry. And the children grow to become Hitlers, and the diseases I have cured turn out to be the only things keeping the wild beasts in check, and the hungry, once fed, turn on each other, their hunger being the only thing that made them cooperate to begin with.

"And so, finally, I surrendered to my bargain. I became, for a time, the vilest of evils, as I had been painted. I did things you can't even imagine, until the pleasures of darkness palled. I went mad. You would have, too.

"I've recovered. I am sane and comfortable in myself, and I go where I will, and do what I will, knowing the inevitable consequences. So if, when I'm asked to bargain, I take the opportunity for a little petty revenge by parodying God's original bargain with me in miniature, perhaps it's understandable."

With that, he vanished, in a gout of fire which set the curtains above ablaze. Kathy stood there, watching the glow, and feeling oddly...

upstaged...