The Interview

"Why did you do it?" I genuinely wondered.

"I'm a gambler by nature." he smirked, and with a sharp chuckle added,"it was worth a try."

"Do you regret challenging Him?"

I couldn't believe I was being allowed this interview. These questions had haunted me for years.

"There's no such thing as regret." He spat. "Just another unnecessary human emotion."

"I guess it makes sense that you would have no conscience. But, you were so close to Him. You must have had some feeling." I fumbled for words that made sense in the strange context with which I was faced.

He impatiently interjected, "Feelings are for fools." And then calmly and hypnotically added, "Don't you see the power I've gained? I rule this earth.This world is mine. I took it from Him, along with most of His precious humans." A long hiss accented this last statement, and sent a chill up my spine.

Suddenly defensive, I replied, "But you've been defeated."

A deep slow laugh bubbled up from the depths of the serpents' belly. "Does it look like I've been defeated? Have you watched the news lately?" And a broad, self-satisfied smile stretched across his face while he stared straight into my eyes and blinked slowly.

Faith was something I took for granted. I simply believed. But faced with the reality of this creature and the claims I couldn't refute, (I did watch the news), I found myself nauseous with doubt.

"You're pathetic. You make me sssick." He was still smiling.

"You have doubts. You've trusted and believed in your fairy tales far too long."

I felt sleepy, almost intoxicated.

"You wanted to know about me to understand yourself better", he whispered. "You're doubting what you thought you knew." He inched closer. "Do you think a loving god would allow so many horrible things? Do you think a powerful god wouldn't act to stop such atrocities?"

My heart was beating loudly in my chest.

I was speechless for a moment as I seriously considered his questions.

Then, regaining my composure, looking straight into his admittedly beautiful face, I said the only words that came to mind, "what about Jesus?"

He recoiled as if slapped in the face.

Rendered suddenly powerless by the simple truth of everything that name entailed, he struggled to regain his composure.

"This interview is over!" he snapped.

In an instant I was alone. The heaviness of the silence comforted me like a blanket. I took a deep breath as my heart settled into a steady rhythm.

I stood up to leave and felt a pang of dissatisfaction. I hadn't gleaned anything from an exchange I had waited a lifetime for. Or had I?