Tempting the Devil

It was a clear beautiful morning in Mexico and two brothers were eagerly awaiting the end to another long week. All day they kept thinking of what fun they would have after their hard days work was done and the best idea they had was to go and have a beer at the local cantina. Of course, this is what they did every Friday night and it seemed to fit the bill but this night was one that would remain burned in their memory forever.

While at the cantina they played cards, pool and darts but soon the repetitive events became tiresome for them. That's when they got to talking about old legends and wives tails that had been passed down in their family for years. Now, this talk seemed to peak their interest and entertain them. They recalled how their mothers would tell them, 'if you keep dangling the feet over the end of your bed the devil will come and scoop you up!'. They and their friends all laughed at how ridiculous that sounded and one brother said, 'let him come, he can wash my socks for me while he is here."

A bystander overheard the conversation and said, "you shouldn't tempt the devil my sons, you never know when he will answer your call." The brothers laughed at the old man calling him a the local "lunatico" (crazy). The more these men laughed at him the more he stewed and shouted "Keep tempting the devil and you will get your wish." The brothers were annoyed at this point and shouted back "Let him come, I'm not afraid, I will make him do my bidding" and laughed at the man once again.

The old man curled his lip and flew up from his chair across the bar and yelled out, "YOU THINK YOU ARE BRAVE AND CAN FACE THE TRUE EVIL, I'LL TELL YOU WHERE YOU CAN FIND HIM!!" The brothers and their friends were taken aback by this and stood still as could be for what seemed like forever. Finally, one of them had the courage and curiosity to ask, "and where would this be?" The old man leaned in and gave them directions to an old cave out in the middle of the desert where the devil is said to live. Of course, the men scoffed at this and didn't believe a word of it but they couldn't resist tempting the devil.

They slowly made their way to the cave, stumbling and drinking the entire way. They all assumed this to be fake so didn't think to sober up on the way there. Once they arrived they all just stared at the massive, dark and gloomy entrance. As they stare into this deep abyss of a cave they feel their bravery leave them for just a moment. Finally they younger brother breaks the silence, "Where are you devil! We're here and we're calling you out!! If you're so powerful show yourself to us now!!!"

The oldest brother and his friends cheered and began to yell and shout, "look at you, your nothing, hiding in a cave from these mere mortal men, not even enough power to make a breeze to scare us!!" The shouting and taunting continued for what seemed like hours until finally the men became bored and tired from drink. They made their way to the side of the cave to make their beds and sleep till morning. They all felt disappointed having not summoned the devil yet also successful in proving this to be all nonsense.

Morning came at last and the brothers were the first to wake up. They slowly woke, rubbing the sleep from their eyes and trying to put together last nights adventure. Their minds drew a blank for just a moment, then it came flooding back to them. As they tried to get up they felt sharp pain all over their body as if someone had beaten them with a truck. They looked at eachother and gasped with horror. Their clothing was torn and tattered, crucifixes were torn from their necks and their bodies covered in scratches and blood.

They looked around and screamed for their friends but couldn't find them anywhere. Then they realized they were not where they had set camp the night before. Looking back over the horizon they see the cave far, far in the distance and their friends running to them from all directions around the cave. They had all been beaten and dragged far far from the cave in their sleep. None of them had their crucifixes on them and they all showed the same scratches and torn clothing. None of them could recall being woken at night or how they got so far from the cave.

After calming themselves they made their way back to the cave to find all of their crucifixes just outside the entrance half melted and clasps broken from being torn from their necks. They could see claw marks and blood in the sand just in front of the entrance to the cave. Just as they thought it could not get worse, the most horrific growl and screams came from inside the cave as a blast of steaming air shot out at them. Suffice to say, they ran as fast as they could and from that day on they vowed to never again tempt the devil!