text: Facing a financial crunch, I found myself unable to scrape together enough cash for my car registration this month. Frustrated and desperate, I did the unthinkable: I summoned the devil. In a swirl of smoke and brimstone, there he stood before me, all horns and tail, looking utterly bemused. "You called?" His voice rumbled like distant thunder. Heart racing, I blurted out my proposal. "I'll trade you my soul for the next three months' worth of car rego." The devil blinked, a mix of confusion and amusement crossing his demonic features. "Are... are you serious?" he finally managed. "Yeah, dude," I replied, trying to sound nonchalant despite the gravity of the situation. "Can't afford it this month." He shook his head slowly, incredulously. "Bro... You could ask for literally anything else in the world, and you're asking for car rego for the next three months?" I shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed now. "Yeah, tough times, you know. Maybe I should have asked for a whole year instead. Can you do that?" "Dude," the devil sighed, shaking his head again, "I'm not going to allow you to do this." "But bro," I pleaded, "I really need it. Can't drive without it." With an unexpected gesture of compassion, the devil placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not making the deal," he said firmly, "but I'll give you that rego." I stared at him in shock. "Wait, seriously? Does this mean we're bros now?" A grin tugged at the corners of the devil's mouth. "Hell yeah, bro. We're bros." And just like that, I had struck an unconventional friendship with the devil himself over car registration. It wasn't exactly how I envisioned my day going, but hey, life's full of surprises. As the weeks passed, I couldn't shake off the surrealness of having the devil as my "bro." We'd occasionally catch up over coffee (black, naturally) and discuss mundane things like weather patterns in Hell or the best way to haggle with a soul collector. Despite his fearsome reputation, the devil turned out to be surprisingly chill, with a wicked sense of humor and a knack for card tricks. Our friendship was unconventional, to say the least, but it worked. And as for my soul? Well, it seemed the devil was more interested in our broship than collecting on our initial deal. Perhaps he saw something in me worth keeping around. Or maybe he just enjoyed the novelty of having a mortal buddy who could hold his own in banter. Either way, I learned that sometimes, the most unexpected bonds can form in the strangest of circumstances. So here's to you, Mr. Devil--thanks for covering my rego and being the bro I never knew I needed. In the end, I realized that making deals with the devil might not be the wisest choice, but it sure made for one heck of a story to tell at parties. And as long as the devil kept his end of the bargain by not taking my soul, I was happy to call him my bro. And that's how I became bros with the devil.