Servants
Hate, Misery, and Greed were gathered around the table discussing their latest assignments. "What's up, Selfishness?" Misery said to Greed. Greed grinned wolfishly and carelessly flicked a crumb of potato chip onto the floor. He liked that variant of his name. He was thinking of using it more often.
Truthfully all of them went by many names. Hate also went by "Loathing" or "Disdain," and he, too, was fond of all the variants of his name. Misery went by "Depression," "Anxiety," or "Mood Disorder." He rather liked the first two, but he thought "Mood Disorder" made him sound like a huffy teenaged girl. Still, he could work with it.
Today they were planning on destroying the life of a young woman. Her name was Kelsey. She was a twenty-year-old girl living on campus for the first time. As it was her first time out of her father's house, it was a good time for an attack. Her parents had recently gotten a new job and had to relocate, and Kelsey had had to find on-campus housing if she wanted to finish her degree on time.
There was so much opportunity here.
"It's her first time having to really budget," said Greed, "Daddy won't be there to save her. Maybe I can give her lusts for pleasurable things. New clothes, jewelry, fancy electronics?"
"Yes, but then she will learn from it. Won't it be better to wait until she is older and has more financial responsibilities before destroying her credit score?" Hate replied.
Greed huffed. "What's your great idea?"
"Well," Hate grinned, "I know this boy, Kevin, I think he would be perfect for her. At least for a semester. He is rather unsure of himself, so he likes to be admired. Unfortunately, one admirer won't be enough for him. He'll so find another girl to admire him alongside Kelsey. By the time she figures it out, he'll probably have three or four admirers, actually. He'll break her heart and she will hate him for it!"
"Great idea!" Greed said.
"Wait, wait," said Misery, "if Kevin is so unsure of himself, she will recognize that. Won't she realize why he is cheating on her in the first place? Then she will learn that she has to find a man who is not so unsure of himself before she commits to a relationship. Worse! She will learn that she has to be sure of herself before she is ready for any real commitment!"
"Maybe," Hate muttered, "Or maybe she will not realize this and she will think there's something wrong with HER. That he cheated on her because she isn't good enough."
"That WOULD have worked, " said Misery, "if she hadn't already seen her older sister go through this experience when they were in high school."
"Hey, that was someone else's gig!" Hate snapped. "You got any better ideas?"
"I think the best way to get to her is to cause her to fail a semester of Economics. She is horrible at math, and numeric concepts confuse her. If I can get her to doubt herself, then both of your plans will have better merit. Self-doubt is a chink in her armor! It will give us access to her mind. Then it all goes downhill for her from there."
"That would only work if we could cut her off from her parents. They affirm her weekly with their constant conversations, telling her that she was created for a purpose and all that," said Greed.
"Plus, her older brother has been telling her since she was born that she was the best thing that happened to him. Her older sister, too!" said Hate. "She has a pretty secure identity."
"Maybe..." Misery began.
"Oh, why is this so hard?" Greed burst out in fury.
"Why is this so hard for them?" the Observer asked the Other from the corner of the room in which they were standing. "Their plans do seem to have merit on the surface."
"Yes, on the surface, things can look pretty bad," the Other acknowledged, "but don't you know? Everything serves Me in the end, willingly or not."
And He showed the Observer the trajectory of Kelsey's life. Her family, her career, her purpose, and He laughed and laughed for the joy of it all.
Truthfully all of them went by many names. Hate also went by "Loathing" or "Disdain," and he, too, was fond of all the variants of his name. Misery went by "Depression," "Anxiety," or "Mood Disorder." He rather liked the first two, but he thought "Mood Disorder" made him sound like a huffy teenaged girl. Still, he could work with it.
Today they were planning on destroying the life of a young woman. Her name was Kelsey. She was a twenty-year-old girl living on campus for the first time. As it was her first time out of her father's house, it was a good time for an attack. Her parents had recently gotten a new job and had to relocate, and Kelsey had had to find on-campus housing if she wanted to finish her degree on time.
There was so much opportunity here.
"It's her first time having to really budget," said Greed, "Daddy won't be there to save her. Maybe I can give her lusts for pleasurable things. New clothes, jewelry, fancy electronics?"
"Yes, but then she will learn from it. Won't it be better to wait until she is older and has more financial responsibilities before destroying her credit score?" Hate replied.
Greed huffed. "What's your great idea?"
"Well," Hate grinned, "I know this boy, Kevin, I think he would be perfect for her. At least for a semester. He is rather unsure of himself, so he likes to be admired. Unfortunately, one admirer won't be enough for him. He'll so find another girl to admire him alongside Kelsey. By the time she figures it out, he'll probably have three or four admirers, actually. He'll break her heart and she will hate him for it!"
"Great idea!" Greed said.
"Wait, wait," said Misery, "if Kevin is so unsure of himself, she will recognize that. Won't she realize why he is cheating on her in the first place? Then she will learn that she has to find a man who is not so unsure of himself before she commits to a relationship. Worse! She will learn that she has to be sure of herself before she is ready for any real commitment!"
"Maybe," Hate muttered, "Or maybe she will not realize this and she will think there's something wrong with HER. That he cheated on her because she isn't good enough."
"That WOULD have worked, " said Misery, "if she hadn't already seen her older sister go through this experience when they were in high school."
"Hey, that was someone else's gig!" Hate snapped. "You got any better ideas?"
"I think the best way to get to her is to cause her to fail a semester of Economics. She is horrible at math, and numeric concepts confuse her. If I can get her to doubt herself, then both of your plans will have better merit. Self-doubt is a chink in her armor! It will give us access to her mind. Then it all goes downhill for her from there."
"That would only work if we could cut her off from her parents. They affirm her weekly with their constant conversations, telling her that she was created for a purpose and all that," said Greed.
"Plus, her older brother has been telling her since she was born that she was the best thing that happened to him. Her older sister, too!" said Hate. "She has a pretty secure identity."
"Maybe..." Misery began.
"Oh, why is this so hard?" Greed burst out in fury.
"Why is this so hard for them?" the Observer asked the Other from the corner of the room in which they were standing. "Their plans do seem to have merit on the surface."
"Yes, on the surface, things can look pretty bad," the Other acknowledged, "but don't you know? Everything serves Me in the end, willingly or not."
And He showed the Observer the trajectory of Kelsey's life. Her family, her career, her purpose, and He laughed and laughed for the joy of it all.
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