“Hahahahaha,” laughed the demon, feeling the spasms of agony throughout the woman’s body.  “How satisfying that is,” he thought gleefully.

He could feel his handiwork, he could feel the woman’s body now contracting in pain.  He was in her body now, controlling her.

“Good!”  He laughed.  “That will show you!  I’m the cruelest demon ever!”

He thought about how he had made her dizzy and caused her to trip over a slipper on the carpeting.  So what if she was 80 years old.  Old women were easy targets – easy to possess and control.  This was gonna be fun.

The old woman sighed.  Maybe she should call her daughter.  She had not spoken to her daughter in years, and if she was getting frail and injured, it was time to reach out.

“No!”  Shouted the demon.

“Yes, I think I’ll call her,” replied the woman, pushing down the building fear and reluctance.

“No!”  Shouted the demon again.  “You’re in pain, you’re hurt, you’re garbage!”

“Oh, I am so tired of my fears and doubts and putting myself down,” the woman muttered.  “It is time to reach out to my family.”  And with that, she slowly and painfully pulled herself to the desk and dialed the phone, half hoping to just get an answering machine.

As she was about to hang up, she heard the phone on the other end pick up, and a younger female voice said, “Hello?”

“Carol?”  the woman asked.

“Mom?”  a surprised voice answered.

“Carol,” she gasped.

“Mom, I am so glad you called.  But what’s wrong, you don’t sound right.”

Irritated, the demon started shouting.  “No, you don’t want to talk to her.  You’re both worthless, just hang up.  C’mon, bitch!”

But the woman sighed loudly and started sobbing.  “Carol, I just fell and hurt myself, and I’m not feeling well, and well, I just miss you.”

“Mom,” Carol responded, with compassion in her voice, “I’ve missed you so much.  It’s been so long.  I’ve been thinking about you lately, and I’m so sorry for what I said the last time we talked.  I love you so much, Mom.  And don’t worry, I have the afternoon free, I’m on my way there.  I will help you, and we can get caught up.”

The woman’s sobs grew louder, as her daughter’s love touched her.  Maybe her falling was the catalyst she needed to reach out and heal her relationship with her daughter.

“I’m here,” the woman sputtered, “I’ll wait for you.”

As she hung up the phone, she felt a sense of peace settle over her body and into her soul, and she thought she could hear some male demonic voice weakly shouting, “No, dammit, not more love!  Yuck, I’m out of here, I’ll find an easier target somewhere else.”

The woman had no idea where that voice came from, but as it got weaker and drifted away, she found herself filled with a renewed sense of love and peace, and she felt herself smiling.