The first word is PANDEMONIUM, but chaos and noise aren’t our cup of tea. So, we went with bread and demons. The dictionary also gave us ACRIMONY and ACROBAT. And that made us think of circuses, of keeping people happy with bread and circuses.
Once upon a time there was a demon that had never been summoned. The demon was bored, so bored that he would have even answered a lowly apprentice’s summons, just to have something to do. But times had changed, and the knowledge sank into oblivion.
Fortunately for our demon, he found work as an acrobat in a circus. It wasn’t his vocation, it couldn’t compare to the havoc he would have wrought if he had been summoned, but it could have been worse. He could have been given bread, he could have become just a spectator.
Summon me, please. I am a very talented demon. I would gladly lay waste to that world you seem to hate so much. Look at my eyes. Aren’t they big? I might not look like the demon you had conjured up in your mind, but I assure you that the cruelest horrors are always done out of love. And I have the perfect eyes to feign that. Please, summon me. I don’t want to waste my life being just an acrobat.
Can’t you tell that I am still bored? Yes, you gave me something to do, but it was never about doing something. It was about being what I was born to be. A demon. Do you even know what that means? I was born to play havoc with the world. To never cease being a child, and to destroy a thousand different dreams every day of my life. Not being summoned felt like being denied my playthings. Sure, I had rage, I had resentment, but anyone would grow tired of those things after a thousand years. And this new toy, this balancing pole, this thing you have told me to do with my life, it doesn’t do anything to banish the boredom.
Do you see this swing? My father used to push me in it when I was a young demon. Back and forth I used to go. Back and forth. Gaining momentum. Gathering the courage, to jump on my own. To fly away. To a different world. One that would be mine to destroy. Without regrets. Without a single backward glance.
I know that I complained about being bored, but I didn’t want these balls. I didn’t want to juggle countless things at the same time, trying to find one, just one, that would feel right in my hands. I was a demon. I already had an identity, a talent and a passion. The only thing I lacked was a summoner. Someone that would take me to a different world and unleash me. Someone that would let me truly begin to live my life. I never wanted to be part of your circus. Can’t you see, that every ball I touch, every love, every pastime, every job, only kills my demon a little bit more?
Outrage? Resentment? Frustration? I don’t know what you are talking about. Do I look like an elephant to you? I didn’t buy peanuts to enjoy these circus acts. I bought bread. To forget, and enjoy myself.
Aren’t they nice? I get more bread, the more friends I bring to enjoy these circus acts.
Don’t talk to me. Don’t ruin my fun. I don’t want to hear what you have to say about caramel apples and the poison they hide inside. Can’t you see that I am eating bread, that I am trying to enjoy the show?
Sure, the circus acts are fun and the blood those lions spill makes everything more real, as if everything that is happening were part of my own life. But I am a people-watcher at heart. I didn’t come to this circus to watch the acts.