...“They were dark days,” Alan said. “And then…I met Grace. She was so beautiful, and I just felt drawn to her. I don’t know what I would have done if she ignored me, but she never did. She was an extra on some television show. I don’t even remember anymore. I asked her if she would go to LA with me because I had been offered a pilot. She drove across the country with me, and by the time we reached California, I knew I had to marry her. And so I did. No money, no real prospects, and I had to do some work I’m not very proud of to raise enough money to get us back to New York. I guess we were happy, then. But…when she told me she was pregnant, I knew I could never go back to that apartment. I couldn’t do it, Simon.”

“But by the time she was pregnant with Liza, you were opening a show on Broadway,” Simon pointed out. “You weren’t in danger of going back to that apartment.”

“No, the fear came before the gig. That’s when I…made my bargain.”

“I still don’t understand that. I mean, Doctor Faustus isn’t real.”

“I didn’t call him to me, if that’s what you’re wondering. I didn’t find any ancient spells or employ witchcraft or even pray to him. When Grace told me she was pregnant, I excused myself and I just…I broke down. I was so afraid. I had always wanted kids, but I couldn’t stand the thought of my baby sharing a bedroom with rats. And then…I got a phone call.”

“Lucifer contacted you over the phone?”

Alan shrugged. “That’s not even the weirdest part of this story.”

“It’s pretty weird. Where was he calling from?”

“I didn’t think to ask. I mean, it’s not like he introduced himself as the Dark Lord when I answered the phone.”

“How did he introduce himself?”

“He said he was a friend. And he had an offer for me, if I was interested. Now, at that point, I was always interested. I didn’t even care about the details. So I asked him what it was.”

“And he asked you for your soul?” Simon asked, not quite joking, not quite serious.

“Are you going to keep interrupting me? Trust me, this story will go faster if you just let me tell it.”

“Sorry.”

“He basically told me that he’d give me ten years of professional success, and provide a lifetime of security for my children, and all I had to do was sign over my soul.”

“Why did you think this guy wasn’t a crackpot?” Simon tried to imagine receiving a similar call and he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it. For one thing, he wouldn’t have stayed on the line long enough to hear the bizarre offer. But even if he had, he would have laughed it off.

“I did think the guy was a crackpot. Do you really think that I thought for a moment I was signing over my soul? I know how crazy that is. So I told him sure, that sounded good, and I hung up. Apparently, that counts as an oral contract.”

“What happens if you try to leave?”

“I can’t.”

Simon sighed with frustration. “Yes, I know. The contract. But what happens if you try?”

“No, you don’t understand. I literally cannot leave. When I try to get away from the road show, it’s like running in place. Like I’m in that apartment again, and no matter how hard or how fast I run, I’m always stuck in place.”

“You’re right, I don’t understand.”

Alan ran his hand over his face. “Look, if I started walking down this road, I’d never leave the road. I would just keep walking and walking and walking.”

“You can only travel with the rest of the production.”

“Exactly.”

“And you’re just going to stay here forever?”