Disregarding the coat rack, John muscled his way through the slew of college students and slumped down in a stool at the bar. He went to wave to the bartender but was interrupted by a scantily clad blonde, no more than 19; “Gimme some mimosas for me and my bitches!” Now seething, John was finally able to get the tender’s attention. Attempting to be friendly, the tender asked, “So, what’s your poison tonight?” He was met with John’s cynical retort of, “Alcohol.” A double of bourbon in a diamond patterned glass slid towards John, which he quickly downed. This process repeated a few times until John was left in what could loosely be considered thought, staring blankly at the counter. He took to repeatedly turning his glass in the counter, watching the light hit the patterns.
Bringing the glass to a halt, he noticed the reflection of a man in it. He was calm and composed but also young looking, a combination that wasn't typical here. After he neatly hung his coat, John saw that he was approaching him via the reflection. No one seemed to notice him and he sat next to John. Too drunk to care for manners, and to lift his head, John remained silent, occasionally glancing at him through his glass. The man then spoke to John, “Do you know who I am?” He was met with silence and then continued, “You asked for my help, and here I am.” John’s heart skipped a beat but he remained fixed in his attention at the glass. “I'm here to help you.” Now willing to speak John replied, “You wanna help”, now slurring his words, “get me another.” The new full glass slid to John and he picked it up and laughed. The man sat watching John with a curious expression. He asked John, “What is it?” John then mocked him, “‘Here to help’.” “You don’t believe me? Why shouldn’t you? I am nothing but good.” John laughed again, “Here’s my all-goodness!” as he raised and slammed down yet another drink. “You’re ‘all-good’ because that’s what you need to be. You didn’t come here because I asked. If you’re so all goody-good, my ‘praying’ wouldn’t make a difference because you already know what’s ‘good’ for me.” Taken aback by his sudden lucidity, John again clammed up.
The man looked at John with a slight smile and replied, “Yet here I am.” John starred smugly into his glass for a time when the man rose and said, “Come, take a walk with me.” Figuring he had nothing to lose, John spilled some money from his wallet onto the counter and followed his strange companion. It was raining and this only furthered John’s sour mood, but the man didn’t seem to mind. As they continued walking, John was hit with a familiar feeling and dropped to his knees and threw up. After he finished, he saw the man approach in the reflection of a puddle next to him. “Feeling ok John?” This sent John into a frenzy, “Who are you to tell me what to do? You think you know everything?” To this he saw the man merely smile. John continued, “Ha! Right. Well let me tell you something. Just because the watch has a watch maker doesn’t mean that the watch maker is an omniscient fucking genius!” The man again smiled and replied, “You’re right John. Let’s get you home.” Something about what the man had just said struck John as odd but he ignored it, got up, and started stumbling home.
As he trudged up the steps, John fumbled with his key to try and get it into the lock. The key slipped from his wet hands and hit the ground. John glared at the key on the stone steps and screamed, “Fuck!” At the key, the rain, his drunken state, and his parasitically stoic guest. He picked the key up, shoved it in the lock and slammed the door open. He stumbled towards the bathroom, dropping his coat on the knotted carpet floor and kicking his shoes towards his solitary chair. Once in the bathroom, John threw up again, then stood up at the sink and gazed lazily into the mirror. In the reflection, he saw that his guest had accompanied him into his humble abode and said to him, “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Going around making rocks too heavy for you to lift?” This made the man laugh, “John, why is it that you are so bitter?” John then went off, “It’s because you have nothing to offer me. Every part of you is simply a fallacy, an error in thought that people still blindly hold on to. No one needs you anymore.” The man replied, “Yet you initiated this conversation John.” “Maybe I did, but old habits die hard. What I once called God is inside of us all and it's our pride that tells us that our ‘God’ has something to give us.” John paused for a moment as he felt tears well and rain down his face, feeling more sober as time passes. “Leave me.” The man put on his coat and made for the door. Before he opened the door he paused and turned to John again. “Your pain is clear to me John. You are right. You don’t need God. You don’t need to love Him, or have faith in Him. You need feel only those things to whom you’ve been speaking with tonight.” The man then smiled and walked out the door back into the rain, leaving John at his counter looking into the mirror.
