Dust Devil (ePub)

Dust Devil, a short story, 14,000 words.

Dust Devil is, as the name implies, a variation on the theme of Faust in which an individual with an overwhelming need makes an agreement with the devil. In this case, the agreement was tacit.

The protagonist Albert Petersen, is a young Kansas corn farmer who is obsessed with photography. When his grandfather dies and he inherits the farm, he becomes depressingly ambivalent about whether to sell the farm and become a professional photographer, even though he has only practiced for several years.

Betsy, his girlfriend, who wants to be his wife, urges Albert to enter contests and receive training before he makes the irreversible decision to sell his farm. Even though he may leave her, she want to help because she loves him. Betsy ends up spending most of her time at the farm, often in his bed, supporting Albert in his trial to become a good photographer.

The following June, temperatures exceed 100°. On the back porch, Albert radiates his angst concerning his inability to believe he has what it takes. While he is back in the darkroom, a large, unhealthy-looking dust devil spins across the cornfield and hits the farmhouse. Several days later, Albert believes he can achieve what he needs by altering the color mix in his developing process.

The process creates incredible photographic prints, so Albert enters a Nikon-sponsored a contest, and wins over several thousand contestants. Unfortunately, his prints contain the "signature" of Albert's hidden partner, a small evil face no one else save Albert can see. During the next six months while on tour, Albert's prints set new sales records, he marries his escort who was with him since the initial contest, and all he has to do to continue the good life is to use the new color mix method.

When his wife becomes pregnant, Albert sees the child through ultrasound and finds the signature of his hellish partner. Albert tries to break his contract by avoiding his new color mix, but when he does, sales drop to nothing and his photography is ridiculed. Then his wife has bad cramps, after which she and her unborn child die on the operating table.

Albert seeks the assistance of a skeptical paranormal investigator. He and the investigator run a test that is convincing, After a long review of his case, Albert takes man's recommendation, as radical as it sounds. In the end, Betsy helps him carry out what needs to be done and he see his newborn son for the first time. Now, back in the small town of Dusty, Kansas, Albert understands he needs to return to the cornfield and keep photographer as an avocation. Now the question is: Will Betsy marry him?