Chicken Soup for the Damned Soul

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Devil. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were a set of footprints and a set of cloven hoofprints. Other times there was just the one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, like when I beat the drifter to death with a shovel, I could see only my own footprints.

So I said to the Devil, "You promised me, Prince of Lies, that if I followed You, You would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, like when I strangled that hooker, there have only been one set of my footprints in the sand. Why, When I have needed You most, You have not been there for me?"

Lucifer replied, "My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I possessed you."."