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An offer you can't refuse

Mark was a bright 16 year old kid with a fine aspiration to make the world a better place. The ideal many believe until they turn twenty-four. Mark's ambition was to become a doctor who saves poor souls from terrible diseases. A noble idea deserving at least a slight dose of respect. Studying hard day by day wasn't a challenge that would stop him. Something more teenagers should probably think of. Coming from an average middle class family was a good enough precondition for pursuing that type of a career. The wealthy ones almost never choose this path, because they are too busy to get a tan on some exotic island. The poor ones would like to be admired doctors, but they are too busy to find food for tonight. Not so poor and middle class families give perfect conditions for young, talented kids who imagine their promising future to be spent with cutting people's spleens and kidneys. Mark was one of them.

It was a usual Saturday, a nice sunny day outside, perfect for cycling in the near forest. Finding new exciting routes and jumps was a great way to spend the afternoon. Fresh air, birds singing, spiders constructing their webs, plants photosynthesizing, Mark doing amazing free rides. Being a doctor doesn't mean being a library rat without hobbies. After four hours of tireless biking, Mark decided to have a snack break next to a shallow lake. The lunch consisted of a fine chicken and salad mayonnaise sandwich accompanied by a can of coke. The lake was still and beautiful like a great summer's day. Mark was gazing at his own reflection in the water when suddenly small circles started forming in the middle. Soon, the circles turned into thousands of boiling bubbles rising in the air and creating a strange figure. After a few moments, a little nasty creature with red eyes and machetes instead of hands was levitating above the lake.

- "Hey, Mark. How was your chicken sandwich?" – The creature asked in a normal voice.

Mark was too stunned to speak like he just saw the devil himself.

- "Oh, forgive me. I forgot to unmute you. Try again now. "

- "What are you?" Mark managed to mumble in a complete shock.

- "Ah, see that's much better now. I am an unknown friend sent to make your life a little bit more interesting."

- "Am I hallucinating or something?"

- "You were just lucky, Mark. Not many get a chance to meet me."

- "Is this a dream, am I dead?" He asked still in disbelief.

- "Too many stupid questions, kid. You are absolutely fine. Here's the deal, I'm offering you a million dollars every year for life, but you have to give up something in exchange."

- "What? Why me? Give, what?"

- "Why you? Honestly, we were playing darts to pick some lucky lad and it was you.

- "Darts?"

- "Yes, just a chance. More importantly, the second part of the deal is you can't be a doctor, you can't save anybody, and you can't help anybody with this money."

- "You can keep your money, then. They will be of no use for me." Mark believed in his ideas more than everything to sell his soul to the devil.

- "Unfortunately, you will have to accept my little offer unless you don't want to see your mother again."

- "You can't do that!" Mark cried in anger.

- "Oh, believe me, I can and I will. So, what is your answer"? The devil said with a sly smile.

- "You already know the answer."

- "Excellent. Here's this credit card. The payments will be sent equally every month. Use it wisely, boy. See you soon." The devil was gone in a second.

The way back home was long and weary. Mark was in a state of complete shock and disbelief, totally incapable of speech and rational thought. Rationality wasn't something to characterize what just happened on that day. One million dollars every year was a helluva lot of money for doing nothing. Doing nothing was one of the things that bothered Mark. In what way he deserved that money? Spending unrighteous money for fun wasn't the course of action he would take even if it wouldn't harm anyone. On the other hand, becoming a doctor was his dream since the age of eight and leaving this ambition behind was a tough decision. Was everything just a dream and was he going to wake every moment? No. One million dollars per year! Nobody would believe a story about an imp with machetes, his own parents would send him in a madhouse. What about the credit card? A storm of thoughts was blowing his mind. The best decision was to not tell anybody about this craziness and come up with a plan in the next few days.

Three days were gone and nothing. Mark decided to check the validity of the card, but the devil didn't mention the PIN. Logically, the code was 6666, and Mark figured it out quickly. The display was showing seven digits. It couldn't be real, everything that happened was too insane to be true. He wasn't going to waste all the money in a day for a luxury yacht, and he wasn't even planning to spend them all. Surprisingly, Mark kept studying for a doctor with the only hope that some miracle was going to happen that would break the curse. Time was flying and Mark finished high school, after which he graduated at university. In the meantime, he was spending the money here and there, but never telling a single person about. The challenge was to find tricky ways to help the people around like casually dropping dollars on the street or leaving generous tips without drawing too much attention. He never spent a penny for luxury items and most of the money just stayed in the bank account. Life was going great with no trace from the wicked demon. Thirteen years after the incident on the lake, Mark became a doctor. His memory of that incident was quite blurred due to the fact there were no further meetings with the strange creature since the day of the event.

Ten years later and Mark was married to a beautiful woman who gave birth to two lovely children. He stopped using the money and hid the credit card into an old book left in the basement. His professional career was also flourishing and he was extremely grateful for the opportunity to save people's lives. Being able to tell anxious families and friends that a patient is still alive is the most amazing feeling someone could ever experience. The proverb says too much of a good thing won't be good for long. Mark's mother got very sick and ended up hospitalized with a risk for her life. The life saving procedure was only achievable with the help of one person and that was Mark. Against any medical laws, Mark had to perform the surgery. The procedure started and there was the monstrous creature sitting next to the operating table. Mark looked at his crooked smile and recalled everything that happened and that day. He remembered the deal and the promise to never see his mother again if he ever breaks it. Indeed, Mark broke that devilish deal, but he wasn't going to just give up at that moment. He worked tirelessly without a break for twenty hours, peeing in a urinal under his gown, but at the end, Mark did it. His mother survived and Mark won the battle of life and death. The demon came to him and said: "Good job, kid. Good job!"