Flash story "Burden"
My flash fiction piece Burden is now live on Everydayfiction.com, my second piece to be published there.
It's a variation, hopefully original, on the Deal with the Devil motif. I noticed that the lives of Christ, Buddha and Mohammed have incidents in which the holy man goes out into the liminal space, e.g. the wilderness, the crossroads, and is tested by external forces. I combined this with my more pessimistic observation that the Devil doesn't need to cheat most people. Most people given power will find some way to bring ruin on themselves or others or both, all by themselves.
It's a variation, hopefully original, on the Deal with the Devil motif. I noticed that the lives of Christ, Buddha and Mohammed have incidents in which the holy man goes out into the liminal space, e.g. the wilderness, the crossroads, and is tested by external forces. I combined this with my more pessimistic observation that the Devil doesn't need to cheat most people. Most people given power will find some way to bring ruin on themselves or others or both, all by themselves.