The city was empty and so was my mind

The sky was gray and no clouds in sight

Judging by the drink in my hand, the clouds were in my mind.

I listened to the sounds of traffic

The shrill ballad of road ragers convince me to dance.

However, a woman runs up to me

Her eyes were blue and scared 

Her hair blonde and tattered

And she pulled me close to her lips.

She whispers

Don’t take money from the man in blue. 

 

She ran away and left me baffled

Yet, I was drunk and could’ve imagined this

I carried on with thoughts inundating my mind

Listening to the sound of my own voice.

Yet again though, I was halted by a hand

A hand so shriveled and old that I must take pity.

My eyes gaze to the rest of hand’s body and I see a man

A man in blue. 

He tells me that he had found a $100 bill and wanted to return it

The warnings dissipated and I felt a hunger for greed.

I tell him it’s mine and thank him for his time

And never realized how he stared as I walked away.

 

Two days fly by and I am covered in panic.

The woman’s face showed up in the paper

The article read that she was found dead

At the bottom of a nearby river.

I haven’t showered since then and all I do is ponder

What if I had just listened to her?

What if I had refused him? 

The night sky was grim and the moon reprimanded me

For my mistakes.

I bury my face in my hands, drowning in the silence.

Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door and I resurface.

 

I open the door and there he is

Looking much younger than before.

“I know why you’re here,” I say and he nods

And tells me it has to be this way.

I invite him to the sofa and there we talked for hours.

He told me that he’s been doing this for a millenia 

After losing a bet with the devil.

He bragged about how he was the greatest violinist

But Satan disagreed. 

I asked him if I would feel a thing and he shook his head

He preferred to make it painless.

I closed my eyes and waited in silence

Before his lips touched mine and I was engulfed in death. 

 

The world is a terrible place to live in.

Liars, beggars, cheaters, and murderers will roam

But not without punishment

Not without justice. 

If you think your soul is pure, Satan will disagree

And he will give you a test or strike a deal. 

Go with the former so I can run to you and say

Don’t take money from the man in blue.