Tom was on his way to the grocery store when he found himself in a parking lot dispute. A large SUV had swooped in and taken the spot he had been waiting for, and the driver, a burly man with a scowl, got out without even acknowledging Tom.
"You deserve better! That was YOUR parking space!" roared Wrath, who had appeared beside him, eyes blazing with fury.
Tom glanced over, feeling his heart race. "He's like 300 pounds of muscle, Wrath."
"And you are 165 pounds of RAGE!" Wrath countered, clapping him on the back. Tom couldn't help but chuckle despite himself.
Wrath’s advice wasn’t great, but he meant well. Tom decided to let it go and find another spot. But as he walked into the store, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being disrespected. Wrath had a point—he did deserve better.
Inside the store, Tom ran into another problem. The lines were long, and people were cutting in front of him left and right. Wrath was right there, egging him on.
“Don’t let them walk all over you, Tom! Stand up for yourself!”
Tom took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. He was normally a pretty laid-back guy, but Wrath’s influence was making it harder to stay calm. He decided to speak up.
“Excuse me,” he said to the woman who had just cut in front of him. “I was next.”
The woman turned and glared at him. “Oh, I didn’t see you there.”
“Right,” Tom said, stepping forward and taking his place in line. He felt a surge of satisfaction. Maybe Wrath’s aggressive encouragement wasn’t so bad after all.
When Tom got home, he found the other demons lounging around the living room. Pride was reading a book, Envy was watching TV, and Gluttony was snacking on a bag of chips.
“How’d it go?” Pride asked, looking up from his book.
“Wrath almost got me into a fight,” Tom said, dropping his groceries on the kitchen counter.
“Sounds about right,” Envy said with a smirk. “He’s good at that.”
“But standing for myself felt pretty good.” Tom added.
“That’s the spirit!” Wrath said, giving him a thumbs-up.
Tom smiled, feeling a sense of camaraderie with his new housemates.
Maybe their unorthodox methods could actually help him after all.
YOU ARE READING
7 Habits of Highly Effective Sins: A Short story.
General FictionA depressed guy moves into a haunted house with 7 demons, each corresponding to a deadly sin. But they're all trying to help him get back on his feet.
