Pammy’s Adventure (Flash Fiction #71)

Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay

Pammy doesn’t know how she comes to this part of the township. She’s never been here before. Why did she choose this path? The trees are so thickly grown that it feels gloomy since the sun can’t shine through. Or probably it is in the dusk of evening already. She sits down on a fallen tree branch in frustration even though she doesn’t want to linger.

Something protrudes on the ground and she kicks it–it’s a skull.

“Don’t do that. You are disturbing the dead.” A voice says.

Startled, Pammy looks around to see who’s speaking. She hasn’t seen or heard any creature approaching. Two well dressed figures appear–the woman in a beautiful evening gown and the man in a suit that shows expensive shimmers even in the faint light. Immediately Pammy feels happy and well disposed towards the two strangers–Pammy loves beautiful clothes and people who dress up.

An exchange of pleasantries ensue, during which the woman introduces herself as Dee and her husband as Vee.

They tell Pammy a treasure hidden right underneath the branch Pammy is sitting on. A pirate left it there centuries ago and never had a chance to reclaim it. They want Pammy to have it, but on the condition that she does something for them.

“Really? I really need the money. Sam is growing up, but we don’t even have the money for a private college. I can’t send Sam to a public college, like Rutgers University, since one class will be stuffed with 400 students in a big auditorium. I don’t call that an education. But private colleges are really expensive. And my job as a real estate agent is not so good and very unstable since I don’t know too many people who want to buy houses…” Pammy is so excited that she starts to ramble.

“You’ll never have to worry about money if you cooperate with us.” Dee says with a condescending smile and a quick wistful glance at her husband.

“So how can I cooperate with you?” Pammy is eager to know the terms.

“We want you to generate more money for us out of the seed money we give you. We have several business plans you can choose from, but the easiest one is this.” Vee says with a commanding voice, and his expensive outfit sends silky glistening to dazzle Pammy’s eyes whenever he makes the slightest movement.

Basically the easiest plan is to open a brokerage firm to hire people to do risky currency trading to bankrupt one or two small defenseless countries.

“I can’t do that. I don’t have the license.” Pammy tries to wiggle out of this one without offending her prospective investors.

“That’s easy. We can train you and you’ll pass in flying colors.” Vee says. “I have to tell you you are going to do all the legal trades. None of the currency trading is illegal. Do you know Nietzsche’s ‘Will To Power’? You need that kind of passion for power to succeed in this world.”

“No, I’ll pass. I came from a small country and I can’t do such kind of things. I see. Now I know who you are. You said your names are ‘Dee’ and ‘Vee’, but they are actually ‘De’ and ‘Vil’. As a non-native speaker, I can’t distinguish between ‘ee’ and ‘e’, or between ‘vee’ and ‘vil’. So I misheard your name. You are the real ‘Devil’. And you are peddling your evil projects to poor people desperate for money, especially to poor immigrants who don’t understand the system and who don’t even know your real name to figure out your true identity.”