Challenge #350: There is no random word or twist today
This story was written for Fiction Shorts.
We’re free— no random word and no twist, except today’s story will be a Drabble n’ a half — 150 words.
Freedom’s just another word for…
*
Setting: Church Bar, Baltimore
John: “Bill, you look a little down tonight.”
Bill: “Today’s my birthday, 75.”
“We’ve known each other for, what, ten years. You don’t look your age. Your two Bobby Burns are on the house. Why so down on your birthday?”
“John, do you believe in something more than us?
“If you mean a god, no. After all, I’m fixing drinks in a former church.”
“But humans have always created gods, something around 18,000. Doesn’t that mean something?”
“Maybe we’re afraid of being alone. If there’s no God, it’s up to us.”
“That’s what scares me, John. Have I lived all these years never really taking freedom seriously? I’ve always looked up and taken directives from someone, starting with the god of my childhood. Now that I’m nearing the end, I wonder, what if we really are alone?”
“It’s a start, Bill, another Burns?”
“Scotch, straight up.”
________________________________________________________________________________
Note: The idea for the setting for this story came from an article on churches that have been turned into bars. The idea for the title and theme came from my life-long spiritual quest and this article on spirituality.
