Today's #flashfiction Destructive Babysitting

“I'm just following orders.”

Super Mario* #quote

Two romans walk into a bar, they then say "V beers please." Anyway onto the flash fiction! 

Destructive Babysitting

          “Have we destroyed reality yet?” my little sister asked while she wagged her demon tail.

          “No.” I responded as I worked the spell components with my clawed hands.

          “Did we do it now?” she asked smiling with her razor-like teeth.

          “No.” I repeated. I itched some of my scales before getting back to work on my spell.

          “Is it destroyed now?” she continued.

          “No...” I grumbled.

          “How about now?” she asked leaning towards me.

          “No.” I told her with a quick look before going back to working on my spell.

           She then leaned even closer to me. “Did we do it now? Is reality destroyed?”

           I then glared at her. “Does it look like reality's been destroyed?”

           She looked at the woods we had hid ourselves in. It was a quiet night with a full moon and I had created a small fire to give us light while I set up the components for my spell and did the ritual.              “I guess it doesn't look like reality has been destroyed.” she said with a frown.

            I hated how Mom forced me to bring me along for this trip. But she couldn't get a babysitter so I had to watch her. And the only way I could do that was to bring her along on my reality destroying duties. I'm part of the race of the Greater Demons and one of our race's duties is to destroy realities that haven't followed their fates properly. In this reality a man named James Smith was supposed to pick up a quarter off the street. He did not as fate mandated so the reality had to be annihilated.

           “So what will it look like when reality is destroyed?” she asked me.

            I looked at her annoyed. “It won't look like anything. It's reality being destroyed. When the spell's complete there will be a flash of light and we'll be back home. That's it.”

           “Sounds kinda boring. I thought it would be pretty or crazy looking,” she told me.

             I sighed. “Well not everything is like what you expect.” I continued working on the spell.

             She sat silent for a few minutes.

            “Can I help?” she asked wagging her tail. “I promise I'll be careful.”

             At first I was going to say no, but I figured it would be mean to leave her out. I thought for a moment about something simple she could do. “Alright. But you can only do the simple things because you're not trained at this. Line up those candles and light them. Use that ruler and make sure they are perfectly straight.”

           “Okay!” she said with a smile.

            I continued with the spell and she set up the candles and she checked them again and again. I set up all the components and they were perfectly straight. The spell was ready.

           “Wow,” I said, “You did it just right.” The reason my younger sister did it right wasn't out of any genius or anything but it was out of the fact that she checked the candles for straightness again and again. It was diligence and not skill. She may develop skills in reality destruction in the future, but I was proud that when I let her help she worked hard at it.

I smiled. “The spell is ready. In a moment this reality will be destroyed and fate will be safe once again.”

          “Yay!” she yelled. “Though it's sad all those humans have to die.”

          I glared at her. “It is not sad for an improper reality to be destroyed. Understand?”

        “I understand.” she replied.

         With a snap of my fingers I activated the spell. There was a flash of light. I first expected to be back at home with my sister. Able to watch her while playing some games instead of working. At least enjoyed some of the same video games I did. But we did not wind back up at home and the reality around me stayed intact. I looked around me and noticed that my sister, while setting up the candles, had knocked over one of the spell components I had set up prior. She had ruined the spell. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she had ruined the spell because of how hard she had worked on the candles.

             “Looks like I messed up on the spell.” I told her.

She frowned. “But you never mess up! Did I do something wrong when I set up the candles?”

              I smiled at her. “No, no, no, you set up the candles perfectly.” At least I didn't lie there.

              “Well we can try again.” she said.

              I frowned. “Sorry, but you only got one shot per reality. So we're just gonna head home. I think we're gonna get it on the next reality okay?”

             “Alright!” She smiled.

              I suppose I ought to tell you that the reality saved by sister's mistake was yours, so you should thank her for that.