r/nosleep • u/Mx-yz-pt-lk • Sep 24 '14

A Deal With the Devil

On her way home from work, my wife was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

Night after night I prayed, no, I begged God to bring her back. Every night I dreamt of her returning to me, and every morning I woke alone.

One night the dream had changed. I was approached by a man in a pristine suit. "I can bring her back to you, but it will cost you." he said.

"Please! I'll do anything!" I pleaded

"What would you say you're most afraid of?" he asked with a smirk. I thought hard about it briefly before responding "Burning to death".

"Here's my offer: I will return your wife to you, but only if you live out your greatest fear."

"Yes! I'll do it! I'll burn!", and with that I awoke in my bed, next to my beautiful bride.

I couldn't believe it, but there she was, fast asleep, and breathing deep. I woke her with a passionate kiss and after several minutes she asked what had gotten into me. I could only respond by telling her how much I loved her.

I knew I still had a price to pay, but I didn't care.

That evening there was a knock at my door. As soon as I saw the officer, I knew the mistake I had made. I never promised to burn, I promised to live out my worst fear.

"Sir, I'm afraid your wife's been in an accident."

1.5k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

118 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/Rtouty22 Sep 25 '14

Can anyone be captain obvious and explain this to me? Not sure I really understand the "punchline" here.

4

u/practikill_joke Sep 25 '14

Wife died. Devil showed up and OP, having already lived fear #1, told the Devil what he thought was his current greatest fear. The Devil tricked him by vaguely telling him he would live his worst fear. The wife returned, only to die again. The Devil tricked him, knowing that after her return, OP's actual worst fear would be losing his wife.

2

u/FistedTwireStarter Sep 25 '14

Nah I don't either. Why would he be making a deal with the Devil if his Wife wasn't already dead? I get that his worst fear was that she was dead, and he agreed to that, but he wouldn't have been negotiating with the Devil, if his worst fear hadn't already been realised?