Angels Before Man

by Rafael Nicolás

For the demons, nothing would feel good, except various sins of the flesh, but that was exceedingly temporary, unless they went on for weeks, which they most often didn’t. They found some comfort in dancing and music, with instruments fashioned from the bones of the vast cemetery they wandered as they moved along the Earth. They built every cave system that will ever exist and considered planning cities with excitement, but hesitated out of sloth. When animals began to reappear, they found some amusement in chasing and feeding them until they grew to the size of the earlier beasts. And there was, of course, Lucifer, who held them and comforted them in between all his untouchable coldness. He was, occasionally, violent, tormented, and vengeful, but other times, he pulled them to his chest and kissed their heads. The demons fashioned him a crown of bones, thorns, and weeds that gave him the illusion of having horns. And they loved him.