Satan's Rummage Sale
Once upon a time, in the nearby land of temptation, Satan was having a rummage sale. Even before leaving home, my mom had warned me by saying, “Don't be mess in' with the Devil stuff. The Devil's ways lead to no good.” Well, you know me, I went looking anyway.
At the yard sale, crowds of youngsters, teenagers, adults and senior citizens were pushing, shoving, and elbowing each other all the while searching to find truly red-hot bargains before anyone else snatched them up. Scattered carelessly about Satan's folding tables and displays were all sorts of shiny-bright, scintillantly-glistening offerings which appeared to be exactly what you might need or must have to be satisfied.
A school librarian seemed to be switching price tags to quietly check out her own discounts. Two baubles and a cigarette lighter were shoplifted by a teen in full view of the Devil. He just shrugged saying, “Who cares, they were just small little things? It's no problem at all.”A silver-haired Granny poked a man with her cane as she shoved him aside. She claimed that was just an accident but she never said she was sorry either. Two giggling destructive toddlers were tugging on an anatomically correct doll until its arms broke off. A man wife was quarreling as he picked over a box of lewd magazines. She had already selected a nude, porcelain figurine of her idol Adonis. “This is art,” she exclaimed, “your magazines are just trashy.” Quarrels and short tempers abounded. Bad arguments flared up and torched an array of hostilities. It wasn't a pretty site.
For sale, at deep markdowns, were the fraudulent tools of lies and deceitfulness which came in all shapes, sizes, colors, and could be spread out everywhere. Since you could find these items almost anywhere, today they were dirt cheap. The other offerings were a strangely hideous assortment of wretched double-jointed thingamabobs, dangling doojiggers and atrocious doohickeys, plus a wide assortment of prickly little doodads.
Most folks reasoned, if you just had one of these things, or even better if you had most of them, your life could certainly be fulfilled and downright satisfying. I wondered why the mob was in such a frenzy? What the Tempter offered appealed very little to me, but still I had to see for myself.
Satan, trying to guess who was easy prey and who was not, eyed me like a foul-smelling vulture. Testing to see if I could be lured within his reach, he beckoned me over as he picked up a nasty looking claw hammer and offered to give it to me. “This hateful hammer is,” he said quickly calculating his words of deceit, “is purported to easily smash to smithereens all hopes and deeds. Unless, of course, your hopes were false or your deeds dishonest. In that case, the claw hammer could help you build evil things bigger and better.” My mind was becoming muddled by his fast talking, smooth-sounding words. In my confusion, I recalled 'bigger and better' was usually good. It all was beginning to sound pretty good. But the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Hesitantly, and maybe too slowly, I started to back away but the dark angel's gaze held me firmly. He pointed, leaning on one of Lucifer's warped walls was an assortment of gardening implements. A well-used, push-behind, lawn spreader came complete with the seeds of destruction and promised to grow false pride quick with strong, deep roots. There was also a hand-held pump sprayer with a hose and nozzle that could spread conceit and distrust with the best of them. A long handled, many-pronged, rake of scorn was hung contemptuously and carelessly near the well-honed, sharp-edged shovel of jealousy.
There was even a smattering of antiques. An old pickax of anxiety could be easily swung but hard to control, unlike the spiked mace of malice which could bash friendships in any direction you decided. Tucked under a shelf, partially hidden from view were some smaller, needle-like implements just bully to the pulpit for gossiping, backbiting, and selfishness.
There was even a very unappealing, disgusting box of slothful odds and ends containing pieces of doll parts and bits of green, plastic soldiers offering haughty eyes, bloodied hands, wicked hearts, and feet that would run to evil. The Devil reached in and tugged a long pull-string on the back of an aged, plastic talking doll. When he let the pull-string go, a nervous, squeaky voice poured out lies and gave false witness until the twine fully returned. Hearing the noise and flipping on its own on-off switch, a tiny manikin jerked around coarsely stirring up conflict and ill-feelings that spilled out of the box.
Satan said, “That little mannequin's a blast, loads and loads of amusement for me. But take your pick of any piece in the box. Chose what you like, they are awfully fun to play with. Even more entertaining if you involve your spouse, friends, or neighbors. The more the merrier!”
Hung on a line that stretched between two poles was wearing apparel, some new and some old standbys marked one size fits all. The tags and labels gave names to the garments and credit to the designers. Greed and Gluttony were fashioned from the house of indulgence, Fury Fashions were from the house of Wrath. The sinfully compelling fabrics of Desire and Lust carried more secluded private labels. Each of these articles of clothing came with hard to read, little-bitty-tiny-swatches sewed upside down and backwards that warned they were not flame retardant, caveated by; “Buyer Beware! Wear At Your Own Risk!”
Stacked off to the side were several gallons of paint, most were an off the wall color called envy-green. It was said to spread quite readily when applied with the bitter brush of revenge or a spatula of covetousness. A tool closer to Satan was a weird type of magnifying glass that somehow worked to unbalance your thoughts. If you looked through it one way, it magnified your prestige and self-importance. If you twisted it around and looked through the opposite lens, other people were reduced, belittled, and besmirched.
A steel kaleidoscope laying close by looked positively ancient with a grayish, pebbled, texture almost reptilian in its nature. Pushing for a sale, Satan lifted up scaly cylinder and said seriously, “This is brand new government surplus. The kaleidoscope was made to look old so true beliefs might wane to befuddlement. When you look through the tube's lens, it makes some boys think they are girls and vice a versa. That's a wonderfully fiendish idea, don't you think! You better get yours now cause my dear Uncle Sam, I'm proud to say, is a newly contributing partner. He's pushing them on every school and university. Locker rooms and bathrooms will never be the same if we can force it on everyone. Later, it'll be pushed on businesses as well. That's our long-range plan, anyway. Snatch'em up while they're hot, is my most confiding recommendation.”
Feeling sick to my stomach, over the ripple of results that could come from the demented kaleidoscope, I moved over a bit and saw a sickly-looking yellow food processor. It came with a recipe that offered to turn strong, sinewy faith into mush just by adding the spice of disbelief and a dab of saucy skepticism. Next to that, a stack of used of dishes was discolored and fly spotted with unfounded fears and false emotions.
Try as I might, I searched in vain for things I could use, like a large ladle for dispensing love, a cup to measure joy and happiness or even a paring knife that would cut to the truth. None of these could be found in the Devils domain.
With just a cursory glance, most of Satan's sale items seem disarming to the undiscerning eye. Some tools touted a lifetime guarantee and promise of good fortune. Lucifer, whom we have to admit is a persistent devil, can often be hard to beat back. He doubled down on his smooth sounding sales pitch by bleating out, “I don't want to nag you or trouble your soul over any insignificant cost. Just hear me out. Everything I offer is usually free. Free initially, that is, excluding the low, really low down payment that you surrender later. After all, who knows when that day might come, I don't! Do You?”
With a wry, sly, grin he tried the third time to entice me by saying, “Take any of them that you want. I created them for your enjoyment. Surely, I can't force them on you but just give into your temptations a little and play with them now. Remember, you can worry about paying later! I'm easy. Trust me?”
Right there, I knew he was full of falsehoods and deceptions. God created the universe and Satan never created anything good. He just twists and distorts desires by using half-truths or downright lies. Trying to ignore Beelzebub's banter, I still couldn't help but notice three well used, nondescript implements almost hidden away in one of the demon's grayest corners. The three displaced implements did not look nearly as tempting as the other glittering offerings. Noticing my disapproving scowl, Satan, extending a gnarled, filthy-finger pointing to two of the tools that looked like rusty scythes with jagged but honed edges. He bragged, “People seldom see my tools for what they really are. The two long-handled ones are Doubt and Discouragement. Both are very easy to grip and hard to shake loose. They increase harvesting efforts when almost nothing else works. Even though they're very plain looking, I use them frequently, night and day. Day in and day out.”
“Then tell me, what's the last one of the three over there?” I asked. Satan laughed as no one else could and replied, “That last one is really genuinely wicked. Maybe my best invention! I call it my automatic dark-power tool. I just push a few of the right buttons and abracadabra, presto-change-oh, total anger takes over impairing relationships faster than my old aerosol standby. You know, the spray can of rage. It kills more than bugs. Check yourself? Rage and anger are standard features in most humans. You might have an older version within yourself to trade in?”
Thank the good Lord, this time, I was able to walk away from all the attractions offered by the Devil. Not that we all don't already have some of these things we're trying to rid of ourselves. Unfortunately, some other people were not as well prepared and bought into his line of malarkey. Many cleverly disguised items and implements were readily grabbed up, put on, or stuffed away to be used later. In fact, some folks carted away whole arm loads of the trashy things. It was like they couldn't get enough of this stuff. Every time a tool of the Devil was freely accepted, two more temptations seemed to materialize. There was a never-ending supply of misfortune and mayhem.
Halfway down the block I stopped and turned around. I risked looking back, not in any desire to see what I might have missed, but to reinforce my resolve to never deal on Lucifer's terms or give into his false promises. To my dismay I saw, like looking through a wavy desert mirage, all his evil tools and items changing back and forth into the demons they always were. The demons clinging to confused customers were ecstatic in their satanic witherings. The ones not as yet chosen begged and pleaded to be taken away from the Devil. One and all were requesting mercies that would never free them from their own chosen Hell.
The message of this fable is: Don't stop, shop or buy anything Satan is selling, even if he is wide-open 24 hours a day. Beware, while your initial cost may seem to be a cut-rate discount, . . . the final payback is always longer, steeper, and costs more than we think.
The End . . . is near, where are you going?
Know of any other items Satan might sell? Drop a line and I'll likely include them. If you want to do illustrations, with corresponding artistic credit, for this or my other stories on Amazon, please contact me at HLS@USA.COM.
Other Works
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The Soul Searching Robot is a mildly adult version of a robot trying to get a soul so it could be saved.
The Soulful Robot is the same basic story as above except toned down to a “G-Rating.”
Valley of Deceit a BlackSteel Novel of Marines and Army soldiers in Afghanistan.
The Take Down is the follow-up story of Valley of Deceit.
Satan's Rummage Sale is a modern day fable suitable for all ages.
The Strawberry Squirrel a short children's adventure story.
Sunken Timbers (Part One) Two Kids find a magic turtle on a beach and go off on an adventure.
Sunken Timbers (Part Two). Sunken Timbers, parts One and Two combined can be ordered with customized names to fit any combination of kids like brothers, and sisters or cousins or just neighborhood friends. If you like, please preview these children's stories at Amazon and consider having the character names customized to fit your children, grandchildren or neighborhood children. The fee is only $5 per story delivered via Email as PDF or MS Word file from HLS@USA,COM.
Invented and published an eight-suited 'Christian' card deck that plays all known card games like Spades, Hearts, Pinochle, Spoons and Old Maid. Besides the 'normal' four suits, the additional suits are the Cross, Angel, Shield and Castle and their colors are gold and blue, respectively. You may review this and order at Toss Christian Card Deck or from Amazon.com.
Copyright May 2016 Dennis King.
This fable may be reprinted or sent by email as long as it includes the list of other works listed above.
Revision 1-6/28/2016
