words per minute
6
RafaArroyo
00:00
Speed
Once upon a time, there was a miserable woman called Rhiana who lived on the edge of town and never went outside. Why would she? She hated the outside world, with its noisy people and dirty streets, and she had everything she needed at home. She had her pet cat, Mitsy, who loved to throw things on the floor and break them, and when she needed food, she could just order it online.
True, her house was a disgusting place. It was full of broken decorations—thanks to Mitsy—piles of dirty clothes, dusty furniture and bowls of half-rotten food. But nobody but Rhiana and Mitsy ever saw the inside of it, so what did it matter?
Unfortunately, as much as Rhiana tried to hide from the outside world, she could not escape it entirely. The family next door had two young children, and every day they played in the garden. They jumped on the trampoline and screamed and shouted, and it made Rhiana want to pull her ears off. Sometimes she watched them from her own garden, hidden in the overgrown plants, but she never had the courage to tell them to be quiet.
Not only this, but when she did leave the house, she had to run like mad. On the other end of the street lived a stray dog, and he loved to chase Rhiana and try to eat her. She was so scared of it that she only went out once a month, to go to the doctor. It was hardly worth it, anyway, because the doctor always told her the same thing: she needed to start doing some exercise. She never listened to him.
The worst thing of all, though, was the letters she received every week. Every Friday morning, another yellow envelope came through her letter box, and every Friday afternoon, she threw it on the fire without reading it. She had hoped that the author of the letter might leave her alone, but this had not happened.
One Friday, Rhiana considered, just for a second, opening the letter. But then she growled with anger and tore it in two.
‘I’m sick of this life!’ she told Mitsy, who was washing herself. ‘I need a change.’
She considered her options. She could start doing exercise like the doctor said, but she’d look so awful doing it. She couldn’t just pick up a new hobby. Any new toys she bought would get lost in the mess of her house instantly. And she really, really couldn’t go out and make friends with people, either, because the townspeople were all afraid of her. Oh yes, they hid it well, but she knew what they really thought.
No, she needed help to sort her life out, and she knew just where to get it. She ran upstairs into the attic, where her grandmother kept her old books.
‘It should be around here somewhere… Aha!’
She pulled out an old, thick book. Even though it had been sitting in the attic for decades, the pages were clean and strong.
It was a book of magic. Her grandmother had been a witch, not that Rhiana had ever cared much about it. She wasn’t talented, and she’d only ever needed magic that one time.
No, she wouldn’t think about that now.
‘If I can’t get rid of those horrible people myself,’ she said, trying to distract herself, ‘perhaps someone else can.’
She opened it to a page that said SUMMONING DEMONS. She looked through the pictures of various monsters on the page.
‘That one’s too strong. I don’t need that much power. That one has a funny-looking head. No, I need something that’s easy for beginners to summon, but can still kill a few people… Ah, this one looks perfect! Beelzebuddy: a beginner-friendly demon who’ll easily clean up your problems. That’s just what I need.’
So she searched through the attic and found some old candles, set up the summoning circle and got work. Rather annoyingly, Mitsy kept trying to knock the candles over, so she had to put her outside and lock the door. Then she cut herself and poured her blood into the circle, said some funny-sounding words, and waited.
A minute later, a short, fat little demon appeared before her.
‘Why, hello there! I’m Beelzebuddy, or “Buddy” for short! And I am very short… At your service. No spill, no stain, no mess is too much for me to clean! Just give me a cloth and a bucket and I’ll get right to work!’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Rhiana. ‘I don’t need you to clean. I need you to get rid of some nasty people—and a dog—from my life.’
The demon looked confused, then he looked down and saw the magic book.
‘Oh God, you’re using that one. The description in it is quite inaccurate. Someone needs to teach those witches some marketing skills.’
‘Whatever,’ said Rhiana, waving a hand. ‘Can you get rid of people or not?’
‘You mean kill them? What, do I look like a murderer? No way. I’m just a cleaning demon. And if the rest of your house is anything like this room, I think you need my help.’
‘I like my house dirty, thank you very much! If you can’t help me, then leave.’
She waved her hand, but the demon just stood there awkwardly.
‘Well?’