Changing the Devil

            Martha lived in Hell for a very long time. Martha was the nicest, sweetest, most joyous person you may have ever met. How she ended up in Hell always confused the abusers, murderers, rapists, and liars. In Hell, there was no light, but Martha always lit up any space she entered. Her smile made people feel at ease. For just a second they forgot they were in Hell. Many people knew she didn’t belong. How did she get to Hell in the first place?

            When she was eight years old Martha’s mother told her that anyone could change. “Like the hands on a clock that change time?” she asked.

            “Yes, like hands on a clock,” her mother replied. “The meanest and most evil person has the potential to change. People are the only ones to unlock the hard hearts of other evil people.” Martha often overheard her mother share her beliefs with neighbors, friends, and complete strangers.

            One night she heard her mother say to her father: “You might hit me now, but I know you can change! You’re an evil man, vindictive, and sad. But you will change. Your heart will unlock! Please change!”

            But even after months of faith in change Martha’s mother was still abused. Her father arrived home drunk late many nights in a row. He beat her mother until blood ran down her nose and out of her mouth. Martha always hid behind the couch and witnessed the abuse. With every blow from the man her mother said, “You will change! I believe you will change!”

            One day, when Martha was walking home from school with her friend she said, “I don’t think there is anyone more evil than my dad. He hurts my mother every night. He yells and beats on her. She cries and she’s swollen all the time. No one is worse than my father. I hope he changes soon. I just wish I could save my mother.”

            “The Devil in Hell is worse than any other person here on Earth,” her friend replied. “The Devil is evil. Your pops is just mean.”

            “The Devil? You think so?”

            “I know so! He tricked Eve into leaving the Garden of Eden. He causes wars. He causes death. Fire and pain follow him wherever he goes. Parts of the Devil are in your pops. That’s why he beats your mom. That’s what my mom says. That’s why the Devil is evil.”

            “The Devil is pretty bad then, if he can be in my dad. You think he can change, though? You think that if the Devil can change then my dad will change too? If the most evil Devil can change, then surely my dad can too. My mother says everyone can change. That people are the keys to unlock the hard hearts of evil people.”

            “I’ve heard your Ma say that before.”

            “Where’s the Devil again?”

            “Hell.”

            “Where is that?”

            “Underground. Dead people live there too.”

            Martha said good-bye to her friend and continued walking home thinking about Hell, changing the Devil, and saving her mother from her father. She wanted to see her mother smile again. She wanted her mother to laugh again. She wanted healing.

            Martha found her apartment key and let herself in. She usually fixed herself cookies and milk before starting homework, but that afternoon she sat at the kitchen table and wrote a note. She went to the back of the apartment building and found a shovel. Then, she started digging a hole. With dirty hands and shoes she  returned to the kitchen. She took a knife and headed back to her hole. Slowly, Martha lowered herself into the hole.

            With too much resolve for an eight-year-old girl, but with just enough hope, Martha slit her throat. And soon she was in Hell to change the Devil.

© Marlena Elmore 2013

Inspired by Nadine