Harry was walking down the street one day, when his stomach started rumbling. The old deer glanced at his watch.
"Oh my gosh," he cried, "It's after noon already!"
Harry looked around himself, but there wasn't a restaurant to be seen, nor a diner, nor a coffee shop, nor even a grocery store.
"What I wouldn't give for a watercress sandwich right now," he moaned.
"Is that all you want?" came a voice behind him.
Harry turned with a jerk. The jerk behind him turned out to be a cougar; quite a handsome fellow... girl when he looked closer... in Raybans, a dark, three button suit, black Oxford shoes and a black Trilby hat slouched over her forehead.
"If a sandwich is all you want, I can fix that for you in a second. But I have to be honest with you, you could have a lot more than that, if you're willing to pay."
"What do you mean?" Harry replied, his eyes narrow.
"Oh, just that you're pretty hungry right now and why settle for a sandwich when you could have a banquet?"
Suddenly, Harry had a vision. Laid out before him was a vast table. Stretched out on it before him was every plant he liked, served in every way he liked it! He saw lettuce heads, cabbage heads, cabbage boiled and steamed and mixed into slaw with rosemary vinegrette dressing, roasted turnips and carrots and parsnips with their greens steamed beside them, a stack of watercress sandwiches that seemed to go on forever and more, so much more!
"It could all be yours, Harry," the cougar purred.
Then, as Harry watched the vision evolve and unfold before him, a word popped into his head, something the cougar had said; PAY! But the cat only chuckled.
"The price, Harry? It's more modest than you think. Just..." and she paused.
"...my soul," Harry murmured. "You want my soul. Wait," he cried, shaking the vision from his head. "My soul, for a mess of pottage? No!"
"Ah, not so fast, Harry!" the cougar growled. "Our motto is go big, 'cause there ain't no going home. Consider!"
The vision returned, this time with smell. Harry smelled all the lettuce and cabbage, the turnips and parsnips and watercress and more! There were Chinese chestnuts hiding on the table, mint and parsley and thyme and sage, apples and currants and chrysanthemum blossoms, all perfectly ripe...
"You call that pottage? We're no pottage industry, Harry," the cougar purred. "All this could be yours, for something you'd probably never miss. You might even be happier without it!"
But again, a single word occurred to Harry, with the force of a truck hitting him; CATCH!
The cougar merely chuckled. "No catch, Harry," she said. "Just a straight exchange. All the food you want, enough to keep you happy for days, for..."
"For my soul!" Harry said. "I still say it's a raw deal and I still say no!"
"Okay Harry," the cat replied, her voice as much growl as purr now. "What would make it worth the price?"
Harry paused and thought for a moment. What could be worth his soul? He shook his head; nothing was worth that, of course.
"What do you even want with my soul?" he asked instead. "What good is a soul to you anyway?"
The cougar came closer. "What's that to you, once you have what you really want?" She put her paws on his arms and snuggled under his chin. Her fur was so soft, it smelled faintly of sulfur... and desperation. "Say yes," she cooed. "You want to say yes, just say it. You can name any price, you'll get it, straight trade and no strings attached. Say yesss..."
He could have her, that's what she meant, somehow Harry just knew it. He could have this amazing cougar girl, and... it might be worth it...
"No! Once and for all, no!"
The cougar girl drew back, hissing like a thousand leaky boilers. Her eyes glowed through her Raybans and she suddenly looked like every kind of trouble in the world! But somehow, Harry knew that she was actually powerless now. She glowered at him.
"Mind explaining why?" she growled.
"It's a policy of mine," Harry replied. "Never trust a smiling cat."
"Prejudice," said the cougar, and her shape began to shift. "I aprove."
Harry quickly turned his back and started walking away. "Long experience, I'm afraid," he replied. "Well, good afternoon."
But he knew the demon was still following him. He knew what he'd see if he turned around now; a doe, young and beautiful, fertile too, he could smell her. And she wanted him! Harry chuckled to himself; of course she wanted him, for lunch! He straightened his shoulders as he walked and resolutely did not turn around.
"Go on," he chided, "go to hell."
"I can't," the demon-doe replied, her voice low and gentle, submissive but frightened. "If I go back without a soul, they'll feed on me!"
"Well I'm sorry for that," Harry said, "but there's nothing I can do." (Apart from giving her my soul, he thought, and that's not going to happen!) "I'm afraid that's your own problem. Now please give up and go away."
Harry kept walking. He knew that the demon-doe was still behind him. And it occurred to him as he went that she wouldn't return to hell without a soul. If she didn't get his, she'd just find another victim; he was wishing her on somebody else. But what was that to him? If her next victim was fool enough to succumb to her charms, didn't they deserve to be eaten?
Harry stopped for a moment and shook the thought from his head. Nobody deserved to lose their immortal spirit, to be devoured by demons! What crime could possibly warrant such a punishment? Foolishness? ...murder? He shook his head once more and walked on. He could kill somebody's body, but no mortal could kill a soul, only demons like her! No, not even murder. Certainly not mere foolishness! He couldn't protect her next victim, but he wished them luck; wished them strength to ignore her charms. And somehow, he knew that they'd have it.
There was a hiss behind Harry and a smell of sulfur. He risked a glance behind him; the demoness was gone. He walked a little further and turned at a corner. There was his favourite diner, right where he'd known it would be.

Copyright © 2015 Allan D. Burrows, All Rights Reserved