Loophole

The Demon appeared in a burst of flame.

"Who dare summon... Elica?"

The woman was much older than when he signed the contract to cure her disease, but he recognised his love even in his new form.

"Hello, my love. I summoned you, I drew the circle of protection."

He fought against the evil in his body as he looked down at the salt and chalk.

"My darling, it's good, but reversed, I'm protected, not you, not the others."

"Oh I know. It's the only way."

He didn't understand until she began casting the spell to destroy all demons, everywhere.

Post Apocalypse Contact

I walked in after a long day tending the potato field and switched on the computer. After loading things up, they sent me a message.

"Hey man! How you doing?"

After I wiped away some dirt from my hands, I typed out my question slowly.

"Are you real?"

The reply was quick.

"What? Why do you ask?"

I noted they didn't answer as I typed out my explanation.

"Because after the plague, just as I was giving up and was about to off myself, I finally made contact with another living person."

The reply was simple.

"Don't think about it."

Die On Your Feet

The Rebel General was dragged up the steps to where the Prince was waiting, as the Prince held his sword out to be sharpened.

"Kneel."

The Rebel General remained on his feet.

"My troops may be in chains, but they are still behind me. So I will not yield, especially to the likes of you."

The Prince smirked as the blade was to his satisfaction.

"So you'd prefer to die on your feet?"

"If that's my fate."

"Well, you're half right."

The Prince made a big show of laughing, hugging the Rebel General, and walking them inside.

Rumor grew fast.

Ensuring Survival

The ship, one of the last launched before Earth became uninhabitable, had an AI to watch over the cryopods with the humans, since it would take millions of years to arrive at its destination.

But, the designers understood that the AI might not be able to handle every possible situation. So, if needed, it would wake up a couple to handle a crisis, then live out their years and breed, raise their children, and then freeze them.

And indeed, millions of years later, the ship arrived and colonised a new world.

Just by a race not technically human any more.

Management Decision

The hack was a couple minutes in, and I was just getting somewhere when my computer went dead.

I looked up to my boss, looking very pleased with himself, holding the power cord to my computer.

"Hack dealt with."

I slammed a piece of paper in front of him and grabbed the power cord.

"Write down what you just did."

He happily did so, and signed it when I asked him to once I'd finished.

Not that it helped much dealing with the aftermath of losing all that data, but him getting fired did make me feel a bit better.

Market Stalling

"Excuse me, how much is this doll?"

I turned around and looked around, needing a moment before I looked down over my stall to see the young girl with a doll I didn't recognise from my stock.

"I'll need to see it, Miss."

She politely handed it over and quickly looked it over. I couldn't find a price label on it anywhere.

"Umm... Five dollars."

"Oh I can't afford that, sorry."

She walked away.

Now, I would argue that doesn't constitute a legal transfer of property, but the ghosts inside it clearly don't actually care about legal definitions of words.

Called In

I had mentioned my friend Paul was feeling a little lonely in passing. She immediately suggested a double date with her friend Bridgette.

I guess I stared at her for too long because she seemed a little miffed when she asked me for an answer.

"You understand I'm talking about Paul, right?"

"Yeah, he needs a bit of spontaneity in his life."

"That's like thinking the room is a little stuffy so let's set off a nuke. And what could she see in him?"

She mentioned a particular body part.

They're getting married in August.

I give them till November.