(Slipstream) The teen narrator's mother makes her shovel the drive for their aged neighbor--despite his being a retired demon from Hell. (3,966 words)
Rating: 5,
Award-worthy
"Tuesdays With Molakesh the Destroyer," by Megan Grey, appeared in the January 2015 issue of Fireside Fiction (issue 19), published January 1, 2015.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
This story tells how the narrator came to love her cranky, scary neighbor, despite his appearance and history, and how he loved her too, despite disapproving of her teenage behavior. He gave her the only gift he had to give (and we suspect it cost him his life), a powerful weapon she could use against her enemies. In the process, he gave her a powerful temptation to do evil, for he was a demon, after all, but she resisted the temptation and used the fireball to give him the sendoff she thought he'd have wanted. (The only gift she had to give him.) We're left feeling that she has grown enormously from her experience.
The author captures the teenage attitude perfectly, and the interactions between her and the old-fashioned demon are a steady source of comedy. A real pleasure to read.
The author captures the teenage attitude perfectly, and the interactions between her and the old-fashioned demon are a steady source of comedy. A real pleasure to read.
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