[ WP ] The devil once promised he would grant you any wish , free of charge , on the day Hell froze over . Today he 's back , and covered in snow .

He came wordlessly in the night as darkness seemed to shroud him, even under direct light. His red skin crept and crawled as he shivered while his black eyes became fixed upon me. Closing my grimoire, which specialized in powerful ice magic, I greeted my unannounced but not unexpected guest. Icicles hung from his blackened talons which he called nails and a fin layer of snow powdered his shoulders, but no amount of ice could obscure evil incarnate as the two horns raised from his crown announced his identity. 
 
 “ Cup of tea? ” I offered. “ You look like you ’ ve hit blizzard on your over here. ” 
 
 “ What did you do? ” he exclaimed in an agitated tone which told me he wanted to skip the pleasantries. 
 
 “ I ’ m afraid you ’ ll have to be more specific, ” I answered. “ Since you and I last met, I ’ ve learned quite a few more spells, helped the archangel Michael with souls leaking from heaven, and, oh, I opened a bakery. Business is good; thanks for asking. ” 
 
 “ I should flay you, ” he replied. His stare pushed daggers through my skin, but I swallowed any fear and proceeded. 
 
 “ You should, ” I agreed. “ But you haven ’ t, which tells me you need me alive. ” 
 
 “ I do, ” he sighed. “ As I ’ m sure you ’ re more than well aware, Hell has frozen over. So, bounded to my word as a demon and The Devil himself, I must grant you your wish. ” 
 
 “ Oh! ” I exclaimed. “ What a completely unexpected delight! But now that you mention it, I ’ m having a bit of a problem someone of your…disposal…can help me with. You see, in my numerous studies and adventures, I might have given Death a slight injury, which created this terrible side effect of people not dying. Trivial matter to you, of course, but it ’ s rather vexing to us mortals. Can you heal her? ” 
 
 “ I can, ” he answered. 
 
 “ Perfect, ” I replied. “ But there is one, little matter that I want to bring up before you grant my wish. ” 
 
 “ Which is? ” 
 
 “ I know as soon as you grant my wish, you ’ re going to play skip rope with my intestines, so I prepared a little insurance: from my understanding Hell is frozen, right? Well as it just so happens, I was just catching up on some spells regarding ice magic. ” 
 
 He grumbled as he understood where my proposition was going. 
 
 “ So here ’ s my deal, ” I started. “ Grant me my wish, spare me afterwards, and I bring Hell back to the glory of fire and brimstone that we all know and love. ” 
 
 “ Deal, ” he replied reluctantly. We shook on our agreement and after performing a spell to undo the damage to Hell, he brought back Death to full health. Thus after bringing about undue damage to the natural order of things, I managed to live another day to do it all again. 
 
 ***** 
 
 More devilish stories at r/Andrew__Wells
