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the little demon 

Ajaysah Harris-Walker

     There  once lived a little demon named Tobias. He wasn’t like most demons. For one he didn’t have sharp teeth and a scary face. He had white perfectly placed squared teeth and his face was covered with smooth brown skin. The only way you could tell he was a demon was from the two-pointed horns on his head, his scarlet red eyes, and the little black wings between his shoulder blades. All the other demons picked on him and never accepted him as their own kind.

     One day while Tobias wept under a willow tree, a bigger demon flew over and sat on the branch above him.

     Tobias sniffed and wiped his tear streaked face. “Leave me alone."

     The big demon smiled down at him mockingly. “Poor little Tobias, do you really want to be one of  us?”

     Tobias nodded and a feral smile covered the demon’s face. “There’s only one thing you have to do.”

     Tobias perked up and his body filled with hope.

     The demon pointed his ugly, rotting finger towards a person sitting under a tree. “You see her? If you can kill her, the other foolish demons will see you have no connections with those damned humans.”

     Fear wrapped around Tobias and hugged him tightly, but he only nodded and slowly opened his small wings. He hesitantly lifted himself into the air.

     The girl sat peaceful under the oak tree humming a soothing tune. She drew a picture so intently; she didn’t notice Tobias drop down in front of her. He palmed a small dagger and raised it above his  head.  As he started to run forwards, the girl took a deep breath and sneezed. It was so loud; Tobias was frightened and fell to the ground with a yelp.

     The girl sniffed and wiped her nose, fixing her crooked glasses. She looked up from her book and her mouth formed a toothy grin. “Well aren’t you a strange kid.”

     He quickly hid the dagger in his pocket before she could see it. Standing up, he stuttered out a response. “I... I wanted to see what you were doing.”

     The girl grabbed his arm and yanked him against her. He fell beside her and watched as she talked happily about her drawing. Her bronze skin shined under the summer  sun, her eyes were like pools of caramel, and her curly hair flew in every which way, but still looked perfect. The thing he liked the most, was the fact that she smelled like warm cookies.

     He was so focused on smelling her, that he didn’t notice her staring at him. “Your eyes are so pretty.”

     He quickly covered his face and tried to scramble away. But she held his arm with amazing strength. Let me draw you please.”

     He  looked at  her  through his  fingers.  Her eyes were  filled with  so  much passion  and  excitement,  he  felt  like  it  would  be  a crime to say no. So, he nodded and before he had a chance to do anything else, she looked at her watch and jumped up. “Meet me here.”

     She raced off  and Tobias  watched  her in confusion. Suddenly there was an energy filled with extreme malice behind him. He was hit in the back and he hissed in pain, warm liquid slid down his back. He fell to the ground and the big demon looked down at him. 

     He seethed with anger. “You are a disgrace to our kind. You will never be one of us.”

     He kicked dirt in Tobias’s face and flew away.

     Tobias cried. Being shunned by his kind once again, hurt more than it did the first time. He flew back under the willow tree and that’s where he stayed and healed.

     When he woke up, he was surrounded by rotting fruit. He grimaced at the smell and f lew into the sky. Under the oak tree, the girl looked  around  anxiously.  Tobias  dropped  down to the ground and slowly walked towards her. 

     Her face lit up when she caught sight of him, and she wiggled against the tree. “I didn’t think you would  show up.”

     Her genuine joy to see him, made Tobias feel less forlorn. He sat down and sighed. “Let’s get this done with.”

     The girl flipped open her book and stared at him. He peered back, but soon the stare started to make him fidget. She nodded and her hand started to fly over the page. Tobias couldn’t see what she  was doing, but  he didn’t dare move. After a few hours, her hands suddenly stopped, and she looked at the book carefully. Tobias stood up and leaned over the book. The girl’s forehead sweated, and she took deep, long breaths.

     Looking at her watch, she quickly closed the book and stood. “Gotta go.”

     Tobias  was  so  dumbfounded;  he  didn’t know what to say before she left. The next day she didn’t show up. He looked around, then stood under the oak tree, but she never came. A whole week he watched from the willow tree and yet he never spotted her. The next week she slowly walked to the oak tree and eased to the ground. 

     Her arms were thinner, and her face looked pale, but her happy smile was ever present. Tobias had washed in the river and stole some clean clothes, just in case she showed up and he was very proud of himself. He waved at her  and  walked  over.  She  shivered  against  the tree, even though the summer air was warm.

     She looked up at him and opened her book. “Hi...um I actually don’t know your name.”

     Tobias sat down in front of her and tilted his head. “It’s Tobias, yours is?”

     She got her pencils out and laughed. “I like that name, mine’s is Iyla. Okay sit down so we can start.”

     Tobias raised his eyebrow. “I thought we were done.”

     Iyla  shook  her head and  chewed  on the  end of  the  pencil, looking at  her  drawing.  “Nope,  it’s  missing  something  important.”

     She looked between the book and Tobias, adding details.

     This went on for months. Summer turned to fall, then winter turned to spring. As he grew older, Iyla grew weaker. Sometimes she would be away for weeks and then come back looking skinnier than before. She would cough so hard; her whole body would shake like a rattle. Despite that, he  came  to  adore  her.  He  didn’t  feel  lonely  when she was around, and she always looked happy to see  him.  Iyla  also  never  questioned  him  about anything. He kept his wings hidden, but she never asked about the sharp horns perched on his head.

     One day while she was shading something in the book, Iyla hiccuped and scrunched up her face.

     One day while she was shading something in the book, Iyla hiccuped and scrunched up her face.

     She hiccuped again and Tobias lost it. He laughed so hard he doubled over and his stomach started to ache.

     Iyla gasped and jumped up, lifting the book above her head. “I see what was missing!’

     Tobias wiped the tears from the corner of his  eyes,  and  he  looked  at  her  confused.  He  hadn’t seen the drawing since she started, and he was curious on how it came out. Iyla swayed to the side and put her hand on the tree to balance herself.

     Iyla’s watch started to beat rapidly. “Oh, I’m out of time.”

     Her breaths started to get heavier and she gripped her neck. Tobias jumped up and caught her as she fell back. “Hospital.” was all she could gargle out. 

     Sliding his arms under her thin legs, he flew up and then dashed towards the nearest hospital. Her skin started to turn purple and her chest lifted and dropped like a jackhammer.  Tobias’s  fear  caused  him  to  speed  up. 

     When they finally reached the hospital, he laid her gently beside the entrance and  banged  on  the  door  hard.  “Help,  Help!”

     When he saw some nurses rush towards him, he flew up and watched as they pulled her inside. Hours flew by and he was getting more and more anxious as each passed. He flew around the building, looking into open windows, trying to f ind her. Tobias almost gave up, then he saw her. Her hair was plastered to the pillow with sweat and her once bronze skin was a dull grey. He stepped on  to  the  windowsill  and  quietly  stepped  inside.

     The monitor beeped slowly, and her forehead  was  slick  with  sweat.  Tobias  lightly  grabbed her  small  hand and  watched  her frail  body. Out the corner of his eye, he noticed her black drawing book sitting on the table; Iyla never let it go.

     He felt a slight pressure around his hand, then her caramel eyes slowly opened. Iyla looked around the room and chuckled morbidly. She yanked the oxygen mask off her face and tossed it at her feet. “Looks like you’ve found out my secret.”

     Tobias gripped her hand tighter.

     She grunted and sat up. “I won’t be alive much longer.”

     It took a second for her words to hit him. “You what!?”

     

     

     Iyla patted his head. “The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with me. They’ve done test after test and still can’t figure out why I’m gonna  die,  but  we  do  know, todays  the day.”

     Tobias shook his hand quickly. “You can’t, why do you have to go?”

     Iyla glared at him and f licked his forehead. “You’re not a child anymore! People leave, it’s a part of life.”

     He looked at her shocked.

     “You don’t need other people to live and I’m not leaving you by choice. You think I want to die?!”

     She started to cough and it sounded worse than before. Iyla gripped the blanket and Tobias gave her some tissues. She pressed it against her mouth until the coughing ceased. When she  pulled  it  away,  her  blood  covered  the  inside.

     She shook her head in disgust and laid back down. “Yuck.”

     Tobias glanced at the book again and Iyla smiled. “I guess I should show you now.”

     Iyla flipped through the pages until she found the one she had been working on for months. She sighed and laid it against her chest and looked up at the ceiling. “This is perfect.”

     She slowly turned the book towards him and he was amazed.

     A neat portrait of him sat in the middle  of  the  page,  but  I  didn’t look  like  him  at  all. His round face was precisely drawn and lightly shaded brown. His black hair fell in waves over his beautiful scarlet eyes, which were no longer filled with sadness but so much joy. 

     His  mouth had  been  redone  so many times but the end result was a carefree, happy smile that covered his face and made him seem brighter. Behind him , splattered around the page was black, yellow, white, blue, and scarlet red. Each color emitted their own feeling..

     The thing that surprised him the most, was the foreboding, yet beautiful black wings spread out through the colors. He looked at her wide-eyed and she smiled happily. “I was young not dumb.”

     Iyla  closed  her  eyes  and  took  a  deep breath, blowing it out shakily. “I make it a point not to draw sad little demons.”

     Unshed tears lined his eyes and he pushed the book back towards her. 

     Iyla  shook her head lightly. “Keep it, please.”

     The heart monitor started to beep with warning and she grabbed his hand, trembling with fear. “You are no longer alone Tobias, you will always be my friend.”

     Iyla lifted up and planted a soft, delicate kiss between his eyebrows. “Be happy for me okay.”

     She  laid  back on the  bed  and  took one last  deep  breath.  A  white  line  danced  across the monitor. His heart swelled, then cracked open.  He  heard  footsteps  rushing  towards him. He slid his hand from her slowly fading warm grip and dashed through the window.

     He cried with grief  equivalent to a thousand mourners. His eyes were filled with so much tears, he didn’t notice the oak tree appearing in front of his face. 

      Tobias slammed into it and fell to the ground with a yelp. The book landed open on his face and he stared back at a tombstone. He sat up and ran his fingers over the carved in drawing.

      “Here lies, Iyla Divine, the girl who met a little demon boy.”

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