Dilogy: Discussion with Satan (part 1)

 Dilogy

Dil´o`gy    n.    1.    (Rhet.) An ambiguous speech; a figure in which a word is used an equivocal sense.       

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I call'd the devil, and he came,
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He is not ugly, and is not lame,
But really a handsome and charming man.
A man in the prime of life is the devil,
Obliging, a man of the world, and civil;
A diplomatist too, well skill'd in debate,
He talks quite glibly of church and state. 

(Heinrich Heine, Pictures of Travels, The Return Home, No. 37)

After being awoken by his cat at approximately 6.00am in the morning, Micheal Gilburt decided to go back to sleep.  He goes into a deep sleep.

"Fuck yes, I am dreaming, vivid too.  Cat wakes me up, it's cold winter morning, thirty more minutes asleep shouldn't have me fired...I'll skip breakfast.  Ok I am in a..."  Gilburt looks around at the scenery in his 'dream', it appears to be a bar, several people are in attendance, faces seem blurry, out of focus, but the decor is not.  "...cocktail bar, everything looks sharp except for the faces of the people..." He looks down at his jacket.
  "Wild!  And I am wearing a tuxedo...and yes there is drink in front of me, lets taste it...Fucking rum...I am drinking rum in a dream!  And it tastes good!"
 He pauses as man siting in-front of him picks up a glass and sips, placing the glass back down onto a small table.
  "You're sharp, I can see your features, the rest over here, all blurry.  You look like an actor, familiar, Um...new guy on that show, um...fuck can't remember his name..."
 "Satan," the man opposite him says
 "Right, I was just about to say that, that's right...'Satan',"  Gilburt picks up the glass chuckling to him self and has a sip, admiring his black tuxedo jacket sleeve.
  "Wow, this is a crazy dream.  They say you have the best dreams before you wake up, this is one of the coolest I have had in a long time.  Gonna write this down when I awake...And now I have the man himself, Satan, in front of me.  Alright Satan what is the deal?" Gilburt says still smiling.
  "Deal?  Yes deals.  We will get to that later.  For now, I am here to answer some questions and maybe help you," Satan says holding up the rocks glass admiring the aged rum reflecting off the dim bar lights.
  "I am not going waste this, ok, first question.  Look I need a break, you know, fucking sick and tired of the same old bullshit, job is...nothing, going nowhere with that.  I want something, you know, maybe a film director, that would be fucking cool.  I love movies..."
  "The problem with man you are never satisfied.  Hey...I don't have a problem with that, your hedonist cues is all me.  But Christ on a Popsicle don't you feel like you have had your fill?"
 "Look, I ain't got a girlfriend, I live in this tiny apartment uptown.  Sometimes I feel like I am going..."
Satan interrupts.  "Curious, you know throughout history there are ones that work hard they make it, sometimes they don't.  Now and again you get times like this one, where you feel you should have it all, that you all should have made it.  Actually reminds me of the Roman Empire very similar time..."  Satan ponders.  "...but kinda worst, anyway the 20th Century was the beginning of all this..." Satan points around at the bar and it's patrons.  "...now in the 21st Century all mans technological advancements, the Internet, cell phones, instant communication you feel like you are going...Nowhere"
  "That's right...I know, it's not fulfilling.  Still feel like a nobody, Facebook page I got like a thousand likes.  What the fuck is that?  What is the point?"
 Satan smiles.  "You are right what is the point?  To act like another ant?  I agree totally...That's why I am here.  Man deserved more than running on the spot, you were given gifts of self importance, but it's arrogance against nature..."
  "God?"
  "Well it set you all adrift.  How are you coping? Apart from your slight neurosis of not getting what you want.  From my angle, the human race looks in bad shape."
 "The terrorist stuff, I mean the other week in the city...The wars, things like that?"
 "Man will always war against himself, he generally doesn't like himself...Yes that comes from certain religious dictators.  Teaches you to be masochistic, so you attack yourself.  That really does disgust me."
 "It's like they blame evil, and you are like the king of evil," Gilburt says
 "And at the same time man is always blaming everything for his own errors, his own weakness.  Man is both evil and good, heaven and hell.  He created these paradoxes to balance his confusion..."
 "That's why we created you?" Gilburt says
 "Touché," Satan replies smiling
Gilburt quickly picks up the rocks glass and gulps back the rum, he looks stressed.
  "We will leave the heavy dialog for later Micheal.  Now, what do you think of your tuxedo?"  Satan says changing the conversation to a lighter subject.
  "It's nice, I have never worn one before."  Gilburt gets up looking at a reflection of himself in the mirror behind the bar.  Noting no bow-tie, but rather a silk tie hanging down.
 "It's a Brioni, beautifully crafted...And no bow tie, never, just a tie, silk or satin...Preferably a deep red hue against the black suit."
  "Man this dream is heavy, anymore..." Gilburt says referring to more rum, he looks down at his glass, now topped up with rum.  "Alright!  Satan's got my back," he says referring to the topped up glass of rum.
  "Of course, why wouldn't I?  Like I said, you have all been set adrift.  Don't blame me for that, heartbreaking watching the human race self destruct..."  Satan takes a drink from his glass.  "...such a waste."
  "Self destruct?" Gilburt says now retuning to his worried look.
  "Sorry, my fault, I did say we wouldn't be talking heavy stuff...just yet.  We need some music... "

To be continued.

(c) Adrian Glass