Fiction Fragment Friday
This story has more inspirations than I can likely even remember. First off is the recent death of George Went the actor who played Norm on Cheers. I have always found this to be a timeless show. Something I watched as a child growing up and in reruns throughout my life as an adult.
There are obvious references to the upcoming Superman movie. Anyone who knows me know of my love for that character and how much the symbol means to me.
Finally there is some pop psychology mixed in with my current trend towards darker storytelling.
A cheer of, “Casey!” welcomed him as he stepped into the bar giving him a feeling of being welcome and wanted. It was a feeling he was unfamiliar with after such a long run of misery. Before stepping in he had been so deep in the depression spiral that the idea of just continuing his day was more than he could accept. The sign above the door naming the bar “The Escape” seemed like exactly what he was looking for. A few drinks to help him forget life for a few moments. There was only one problem with this warm inviting welcome. He had never been to this bar and didn’t know a single one of these patrons. So how did they know his name?
Casey took in the bar for a moment before moving out of the doorway. In the back corner sat his favorite pinball machine from the 80s faded and well worn. Next to it a Pacman cabinet, his favorite video game from the 80s. Both games had “free play” signs taped to them over the coin slots. Instead of sports the TVs were all tuned to difference Science Fiction programs. Off to the side at a large table patrons were playing a collectable card game instead of poker. No one was approaching him, but likewise they did not look to be standoffish either.
Unsure what to make of this, Casey decided to do what he had come in to do. Make the world disappear into a drunken haze. “Beer please,” he said as he slid onto a stool at the bar. The bartender looked him over as if he were staring into his very soul. Casey felt exposed in a way he had not felt since the night he lost his virginity after prom. He did not know why he felt just as desperate for approval as he had on that night.
The bartender smiled and sat a glass containing a clear liquid with what looked like a Jolly Rancher in the bottom sending air bubbles up to the top. “I think you’ll enjoy this a mite more than beer and it’ll get just as drunk.” He leaned back on a support beam behind the bar and watched Casey expectantly.
One sip of the lightly carbonated drink brought back memories of teenage parties. Years of carefree stupidity that he both cringed at and longed for at the same time. He took a big drink from the glass and admitted that he indeed enjoyed the taste far more than any beer he had ever tasted. He had only switched to beer because of peer pressure and a desire to look tougher. The pure enjoyment told him that he had made a poor choice.
“Zima?” He asked already knowing the answer. The bartender just nodded. “I thought they stopped making this over a decade ago.”
“They did. Well almost two decades at this point.”
“Then how?” He stared at the glass in awe.
“Oh, I have my ways. You can get beer in any old place. This wouldn’t be much of an escape if you didn’t drink something more special now, would it?”
“Never doubt that Dante knows what you really want even if you don’t.” The woman next to him at the bar interjected. Casey hadn’t even seen her sit down, but there she was with the long brunette hair he loved so much dressed in jeans and a Cobalt t-shirt. Cobalt was his favorite superhero comic as a kid. He still held a strong passion for the character, but didn’t ever get the chance to talk about him. “So, you see the new Cobalt trailer?” She took a drink of a much darker liquid from her glass.
“Only five times. Looks like after decades of failures they’re finally going to get the character right. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a movie.” Casey had momentarily lost himself in the excitement of being asked and blurted out his answer way too loudly. Then he remembered his ex-girlfriend Amy telling him what a dork he was and how she deserved to be with a man not a child. He had sold his entire collection of action figures and statues just to try and make her happy only to be left for someone with more money. His mood sank expecting his outburst to scare away this stranger.
“I know right.” She was animated and her hands moved wildly to emphasize her point. “I mean they finally aren’t afraid of the comics. A bright costume, unapologetically cheesy secret hideout, and I’ve even heard that they are sneaking in his teen sidekick Alloy.”
Casey was so taken aback by the energy in her outburst that he nearly fell off his stool. Before he could match her infectious energy though Dante spoke up. “Now Tori don’t overwhelm the poor boy. He just got here and there’s some things to work out first before you go dragging him down tangents.
“Aw dad you don’t let me have any fun.” With a pouty face she hopped off the stool holding her drink. “We’ll talk later.” She said to Casey before heading into the back room.
Dante shook his head before returning his gaze to Casey. “So, what do you think brought you to this place at this time?”
“That’s a strange way of putting it. Don’t you mean why did I come in?”
“Oh, I know the answer to that. I just want to see if you do.”
Something about Dante’s smile unnerved him. “It’s been a rough day. Just saw the name of the bar and though yeah, I could use an escape for a bit.”
Dante actually laughed and as he did the patrons around the bar joined him. “Rough day? Don’t you mean a rough year? Or perhaps decade?”
He stopped laughing and slammed his hands down on the bar to either side of Casey. The entire bar went silent, even the TVs and the hum of the lights. “Let’s be honest Casey my boy, you’ve had a rather miserable life up to this point. At least that’s what you tell yourself.” He paused for a moment and grinned wide.
“Why do you think that is? You who have been given so much are still so miserable. Have you ever asked yourself why?”
“Hey, I don’t need this.” Casey yelled in Dante’s face. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and tossed it to the bar. “Keep the change.” Without so much as a glance back Casey stormed to the bar entrance and walked out the door.
“Casey!” The cheer met him as he stepped through the door and found himself back in the bar. He shook his head for a moment before turning around and exiting again. Like before the moment he stepped through the door he was back inside the bar and met by everyone in the bar shouting his name. “Casey!”
Dante pointed to a seat at the bar, and it slid back on its own. “Now if you are done with your little tantrum please sit back down.”
Anger, desperation and discouragement warred within him for dominance as he returned to his stool. He looked up at Dante but refused to make eye contact. “What do you want from me?”
Dante smiles again with no sign of malice in his face. “What does it feel like to live your entire life asking all the wrong questions?”
“What is the right question then?”
Dante laughed again, but this time the other patrons did not join him. They returned to their conversations and games giving the two no further attention. “Always looking for the easy way out. No, I’m not going to provide you with all your answers. An unearned answer is worthless. Let me ask you a question though. Who are you?”
Casey thought about his answer for a moment trying to figure out the trick in the question. “You seem to already know my name and quite a bit about me.”
“Oh, I know who you are. I just want to know if you do. So much of your pain in life comes from denying who you are. Being ashamed of yourself and trying to twist into someone you aren’t. How can you ever hope to be happy when you twist yourself to be what you think others want you to be?”
Casey thought about Dante’s words and found some truth in them. “Are you saying that all of my problems are in my own head? What about health issues? All my dead loved ones? The economy? How are those all in my head?”
“Unlike me, you can’t control your life. All you can control is how you react to it. You spend some time here and discover who you really are deep down. Then when you step back out that door you will be a new man ready to face the world.”
“What’s in it for you?”
Once again Dante smiled. “Finally, a good question.” He set a contract on the bar top. “Three favors from your new life. Nothing illegal since you worry about such things. I will even tell you the first favor before you sign. My daughter Tori is to be your roommate for a year. I will even pay her half of the rent.”
Casey read over the contract looking for loopholes, but all he could think about was how much fun it would be to have someone like Tori to talk to. Looking around the bar he might even enjoy his time learning who he was. Feeling like he had already failed at life and had nothing more to lose, he signed the contract. He felt a heat wash over him as he pulled the pen away as if a part of his very essence had left him and infused itself in the paper.
Dante signed the contract and as soon as he pulled his pen away the paper disappeared in a flash of fire and smoke. “Very good. Now why do you go play some pinball while I have a talk with my daughter?”
Casey smiled as he approached the pinball machine. He knew he had just been trying to leave the bar but couldn’t think of any reason he would have done that. Everything was perfect in The Escape. Everyone knew his name and shared all his interests. They liked and hated all the same things. It was a paradise, and he wished he could stay forever.
Dante looked at his daughter with a stern face. The contract appeared back in his hand with a flash of fire, and he held it out to her. “Well daughter mine it appears your final test has arrived.” She took the smoldering paper from him. “He is yours and you have but one year to provide me with the prophesied grandchild. Do so and you shall have your freedom. Fail me at your own peril.”
She smiled and glanced over at Casey illuminated by the glow of the pinball machine. “Oh, don’t worry father. This one will be a piece of cake.”
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