“Okay,” I said, queuing up my questions. “Why did you create ticks and flies?”

Tom gave me a kind of look, as if to say, “Is that all you got for me?” He answered anyway.

“Every living thing goes to heaven or hell, right?” Tom explained. “And both ticks and flies spend their short lives being pests and living off of other people. How do you think that’s gonna add up for them when they die. Not good, right?”

I nodded, following every word.

Tom continued:

“So, when all ticks, flies, and other pests of that nature all go straight to hell when they die, okay? Also, you aren’t allowed to kill anything in hell, nor is it possible, can you imagine how annoying it must get down in hell with clouds of flies and ticks and other pests flying around and stuff? It gets really annoying like that in hell. I’ve been there, I would know. Thus, the whole point of creating ticks and flies is simply to-”

“To annoy Satan?” I suggested.

“You’re catching on, kid.” Tom grinned “This is fun! Next question!”