The Crossroads

We stood at the crossroads of two highways long since abandoned to time. The moon hid behind the clouds in the night sky. Ashamed and confused.
The devil took his time reading from my list.
Finally and with a tired but curious glance over the top of the paper he asked, “How do you propose to pay for these things?”
“With time,” I answered.
He nodded slowly and licked his lips before extending his hand, “We have a deal then.”
I shook his hand firmly and smiled, “Deal.”
In the blink of an eye, my life was ended and I stood apart from my body as it collapsed to the ground. The asphalt reached up and pulled it under slowly but without a sound.
The devil looked at me then with a tear in his eye. “Thank you for this,” he said as he handed me the keys to Hell and slowly vanished into thin air.
My watch had begun.