It had been a rough night for Will. Not only had he abandoned everyone he loved, he also woke up the morning after without a dime to his name. The morning before, he had a wife, 2 kids, a huge house, and $800k in the bank. That was before the tall and short Imp named Graham appeared to him as he was on his daily "creative stroll" through the park.

Will had been retired for years now, but occasionally wrote stories and made art for fun, and he had amassed a decent fan following in the process. Each day for two hours, he'd take a mellow walk through the beautifully manicured park near his upperclass neighborhood. He normally wouldn't get any ideas during this walk, but Will wisely assumed that seeing the sky, the nature, smelling the flowers... All of these things would help keep him in a good mood and inspired to create.

This particular Thursday, he had a feeling in his consciousness that he should change his shoes at the very last minute; in fact, he had already walked out the door with his usual pair. Will looked back towards the house, annoyed that he had locked the door and would need to fumble for his key. He sighed deeply, then went into the house and swapped out his normal kicks for a pair of lime green running shoes. Will would regret this decision for the rest of his life. But was it his decision?

Will entered the ivy covered wrought iron gate of Diamond Valley Park, small statues of a squirrel and bird on either end of the sign. DVP (as the locals called it) was known for its friendly squirrel population, happy to run up and show love to parkgoers in hopes to fill their cheeks with dense nuts. A huge white lily flower caught Will's eye immediately, and he closed his eyes and sniffed so hard that 10,000 microscopic universes that had dwelled inside the lily for the equivalent of 10 trillion years were eradicated in less than a second. Zooming in quickly, we find that the most inhabited and advanced planet had seen this coming for years, and successfully evacuated their people onto enormous space yachts, no comforts withheld. This was all thanks to a scientist named Dale that theorized that his universe may be located on an extremely large planet. After three years of drifting and multiple terrorist attacks, the fleet was destroyed and the civilization was over. "What a beautiful smell," Will said to an older couple admiring another lily.

Will continued down his usual path, the emerald green pond shining bright as Ol' Chip the caretaker fed the koi fish, each taking turns lapping the bread pellets he tossed. He waved to Chip and enjoyed the shimmering light bouncing off the caretaker's cart. Just as he passed the pond, an unusual being asked him a question. "You like batteries, Will?"

Will looked up and saw a towering behemoth, an orange creature with purely shimmering gold eyes, but Will also looked down and saw a scrunched and dismal creature, the same color with the same eyes. Somehow he was seeing both at the same time, but he couldn't comprehend as only one being stood before him, both tall and short. Its sharp teeth were dripping a scalding green liquid, and it smiled as it closed its golden eyes and took a huge puff of it's Cuban cigar. It was a demented beast, so bright orange. Will's mind was beginning to shatter. The creature was so tall and short. The Imp let out a puff of smoke and it travelled both through Will's legs and far above his head at the same time, even though the creature only had one mouth. It wheezed and coughed some of the green liquid, which completely melted a friendly squirrel who was sniffing around for nuts.

"Will, I don't particularly enjoy waiting to hear if someone likes batteries or not." The creature hissed through teeth, not particularly annoyed or excited. "I'm Graham. I'm an Imp, not sure why or how but here I am, friend. What do you think about the batteries, my boy, my Will?"

Will looked like a different person. His face was deformed. His eyes looked like an insomniac who'd had a particularly horrible year. His teeth were turning gray. He fell to his knees and started twitching and scratching things into the sand. A new and beautiful language that after years of studying, linguists, scientists and world politicians agreed that this would be the Earth's only system of communication. Foam began pouring out his mouth and he knelt at the Imp's feet and begged in a tongue unimaginable. The Imp laughed, and Will starting lifting into the sky like an average grocery store balloon. The last thing he heard as he continued his ascent to the stratosphere was the Imp whispering, "Boy; Will, or Matthew now, I sure enjoyed seeing those shoes."

Matthew awoke the next day in his hut, barely remembering his past life as Will. He was poor, and worked at Mudhead River making bricks for pennies as he had done every day prior and would continue to do until the day he died.