the imp had been following me for days, pesky fucking thing, messing with my books, teasing the dragon, jumping out from behind the sofa while we were watching tv, spilling oats and maple syrup everywhere, throwing my hat over the neighbours' fence and generally just fucking things up.
he said he name was edmond, some sort of 13th-century origin, and he enjoyed our banter which made me realize he wanted my attention but time is very tight. 

it took me about seven days before i trapped it after i had several clumsy attempts. there have been five models of entrapment, five currents traditionally. 
the first can be described as a spirit model, which i guess shaman and traditional ceremonial magickians use, the second is energy work which healers use, the third is psychological where symbolic representation is used, then i guess there is the information model which is cerebral and then there's instinct. 

my instinctive mode told me not to fight this particular demon but to make a pact. it was a naughty spirit and not really dangerous, just good at pressing my buttons like an irritating flatmate.

so, i made the pact, a complex process but effective. edmond was allowed free range at catching moths, cockroaches and flies. he could inflict whatever evil tortures upon them. pull them apart, use fire, ice cube em, trap them in jars, turn them inside out. i had to turn a blind eye. in turn he would stop fucking with my zen.

i'd ruled out any other insects species as he was demanding access over larger grasshoppers and even frogs, mouses, bats and cats and negotiated him down to the three species of insect because they were so in abundance. 

my days start early at the moment, i like to cruise down to the beach, do some wave type things, read in the sun, and take a slow drive home in the hybrid. sometimes i stop at harris farms to buy some fresh ingredients but mostly i like to go home and potter around. because i have had a few months off i'd made good progress inside the house but mostly outside in the garden. the back looks amazing, really deep jungle vibe. the front had had two trees chopped down and some foliage cut right back making it very light. my fish have less shade but can still hang out under the bridge. 

as i exit the car i can hear splashing from the pond. often the fish will get excited when i feed them and make little splashing sounds but this morning the splashing was more rhythmic and regular. it was edmond who was dangling his feet in the water splashing like a three year old.

'hey, what are you doing,' i yelled.

'playing with these fish, enjoying the outdoors, catching some rays, in deep meditation, plotting a novel, taking to some plant spirits, what the fuck do you think i'm doing mission? i'm just relaxing.'

'okay, well i hope those fish are not being traumatized.'

'what the fuck do you take me for, don't answer that, just back off and leave me alone. i ain't doing no harm.'

his long beak like face scrunched up while his big eyes glared at me, clouding over in blood red. and then as we locked eyes, his tongue a forked serpent shot out and wrapped itself around a crawling bug. it retracted slowly into edmond's beak like mouth. 

i let it go, stuck my key in the door and went to do some pottering, mumbling under my breath.

this is the problem with pacts, you are committed. it does my head in but a pact is a pact. given time one of us will break it.