There was a man who went to the devil to settle his marital problem which has lingered for sixteen years. Childlessness.

By then he was about to embark on a journey, which he did; and after few days his wife communicated to him that she as pregnant.

This man went home to perform the first ritual given to him, for safe delivery. His wife was never sick for as long as her pregnancy lasted and she delivered of her baby without any complications. It was so successful that she could have had it very smoothly at home.

But then, her husband was again away on a business trip. The man sent some money to his brother and told them to carry on with the naming ceremony without him.

All arrangements were made for the naming ceremony; family, friends and well-wishers, gossipers, spies and the village madmen all gathered for this grand occasion, not at all forgetting the agent of the one to whom the sacrifices were made for this marvelous work of God. Then God and his agents were relegated to the background.

Just before the recession of the ceremony, the father of the child entered. This indeed added more drama to the ceremony; the classes of individuals in attendance, the sonic and the gastronomic aspect of it all was in no doubt magical.

He then went inside the house to meet his junior for the first time-what a ‘beautiful’ boy. Methinks ‘loving tender’ will do for a two word description of this wonderful creation.

It was when the man handled his child for the first time that it happened. The bizarre! On lifting the child up to thank God (what a mockery) in the presence of family members that the agent of the killer, the thief and the destroyer came in spiritually, and caused the ceiling fan to collect the head of the baby in a single stroke.

A ceremony fell into mourning as women howled and rolled on the floor. Children wept and men gnashed their teeth. Madmen also roared and gossipers appeared cold, displaying all the passes from Adam which could mean ‘God forbid, abomination, it shall not be well with the enemies.’ Every actor performed quite excellently, then, then condolence ceremony ended.

When the night came, the devil appeared to the man while heb was alone in his room. “Now son of man,” said the devil to him, “it is time for the last sacrifice, of thanks. For your request has been granted.” “Didn’t any of your demons inform you that the child met his horrible death earlier today? Get ye behind me devil”. Upon that the devil replied that, “to protect the child also is another request which you never made. I offer that service too, but since you didn’t ask me to do that it could be assumed that you sought for another power to protect your child for you. As it stands now, his death is of no issue and the case of protection would be, for now relegated to the bill of extra-contractual requests. And discussing it, being retroactive as it is, is nothing but sheer waste of time which you, unfortunately do not have enough on your side right now to spare.

“Perform that sacrifice first thing tomorrow morning or face the ghoul dance that will come as a consequence. Grave greetings to you and your household, son of man”.

The devil turned to go when the man called him back. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at devil. “You shouldn’t have shown yourself to me, idiot!”

He squeezed the trigger, not knowing that the whole part of the event which appealed to his sense of sight were only illusory. The devil was only visible in his head and not in the room. He alone saw him as he was not anywhere visible in the room. But unfortunately, his wife was just entering the room to know whom the man-her husband spoke with. The bullet buried itself into the woman’s heart. And she died on the point where she stood.

That was how people got to know that the accident that happened earlier in the day was actually intentional. This man purposely murdered his son and now his wife. That was when they started crying: ‘second murder!’

The retch is currently rotting away in a psychiatric home which after his graduation will face trial on double count charges for murder-because, at the time when he killed his family he was mentally sound. The devil struck his head with the starve of madness only because he refused to perform the sacrifice of thanks.

Lesson

His gift will add no sorrows.

The devil even came to see whether the power that is to protect the child he helped the man to get, is strong enough, by an attempt to---nothing but KILL.

Sixteen is a perfect number (1+6=7), which God planned to bless him with twins of both sexes.