My Demon, Simper

I have a demon. Everyone say hello to Simper. On the grand scheme of things, he's not that bad. We even have talks every now and again.

He's a sad man. He made himself known to me at age seven, taking my innocent soul to temptations I’ve learned to hate. He guided my hand as my mind languished silently, listening to nothing but my own mind. Over time, however, I’ve refined the art of tempting the tempter.

You see, Satan himself never opens his eyes to the truth of salvation and grace, just as we think not of an enemy's point of view. He is quite the child in this capacity. It is this damning flaw of narrow-minded Pride that allows such reverse tempting of his children. Everybody has a personal demon; I believe that we are all born with them. One is thrust upon us as soon as Satan can send one, for he only has a hundred years to convince us he doesn't exist. Every little bit that God will allow, Satan rebels. What further way to rebel than to have seven billion damned souls here, assigned to one person for a lifetime?

I do not believe in a guardian angel for each of us, however; I believe that such a concept would impinge upon our Free Will. Furthermore, they are often not necessary. Physical ailments are such that an angel, a being solely of spiritual mass, could not assist. On the spiritual assist, it's not needed. Of course, God may send an angel to protect certain people at times, and I will not attempt to fathom why. (As I stated before, I believe that God expects different things out of everyone, and the path one takes to believing in Him is more varied than the number of people alive. There have been over a hundred billion people on this earth, and their paths to salvation or damnation are unique to the person.)

I digress. Satan trains his Tempters to instantly reject humanity's logic, for, as we are half-mortal, half-spirit, our knowledge about the spiritual realm is limited and broken. However, the Damned One gave me a curious Tempter. When I was about age fourteen, I saw the presence of my demon. My temptations suddenly had a source, a wellspring. After that realization, a bitter battle was waged in my mind over control of it.

Let me give you a reason why this was a difficult battle. Simper takes the form of a large Harpy Eagle on this earth, with brown feathers, save for blood red around his head, tail, and wing tips. He dug his claws into my shoulder from birth, and over time my body grew around the talons, burying them in me. If you've ever seen an eagle fighting, you can understand my qualms. His seven-foot singspan beat against me as I scraped and bit as his plumage and claws. For four long years, we've taken pieces of each other and thrown them around, sometimes throwing them at others (and I’m sorry to those people), whose demons would use the scraps of our struggle to further their own goals. .

He was whittling me down, and I felt my resolve weaken. When I was on the ground, crushed by my own lack of will to fight him, he came again and dragged me to my desk. And, whilst he reveled in his victory, his spirit rifled through my mind. You see, he was courting me for quite some time, and lusted for the mind within. When he perused my thoughts, he found that I was sorry for him.

Now, this is how you trap a demon, and he quite agrees. You show him that you care for him. Simper's master cares not for his own. The worst thing you can do to Satan, then, is care for his spawn. It's humorous how much that damages and spites the King of Pride. It also had an incredible impact on Simper. After witnessing my sorrow for his plight, he at first attacked me again, hating the notion of the grace I showed him. His rage subsided to the first tears he has ever shed. He kept prodding my mind, and my soul witnessed to him.

His claws retracted out of me, and he flew away, abandoning his post. Months later, he returned, digging his claws into me again. I accepted him, even as he half-heartedly tempted me again. He eventually let me know Satan had rejected him, and he was a stray spirit.

Now, he builds up courage to rejoin the father, even though I tell him it's for the best. He's been at the tempting life for thousands of years, taken many men to their downfall, and he is afraid of what God will do. He says he is a novice at tempting, as many demons today have been at it since before the time of Jesus (they say it was a simple time for damnations).

With many ancient demons, it's no wonder how easy it is to fall astray. I consider myself fortunate to know a demon so personally, so I can tell you about him. But I am one mere man. My demon is new. My demon is young. If he fails in the mission he gave up on, I will take him to the father, and vouch for his salvation.

My demon's name is Simper. Who's yours?