I’m a bartender at a pretty cheap bar in fayetteville, NC. It’s got an 80s anesthetic to it with all the neon signs and scantily clothed women posters hanging on nearly every wall. Most night’s are quiet as there’s much better options to drink around town and my only form of entertainment is the occasional conversations I have with some of the customers. Not all the conversations I have are at all meaningful, most are just drunken rants about how their wives cheated on them and their lives are in a complete downward spiral, others are just a collection of slurred syllables I try to ignore by passing them another one of the drinks they were having.
However once in a blue moon a very interesting character comes along and engages in very interesting conversation with me. Tonight seems like it’s going to be one of those night’s. A man had come in earlier and sat down at the farthest stool away from me, clearly wanting his privacy from the handful of other patrons here. He waved me over and asked me to pour him a glass of Whiskey. His facial features weren’t much to look at, he wasn’t particularly ugly but he didn’t stand out of a crowd either. The only thing that really caught my attention were his eyes, he had very sad eye’s, as if he was on the edge of crying. I poured his drink and kept going about my business.
Every now and then I would glance over to that man to see if he would need another round but he didn’t get anything else for a couple of hour’s. I could occasionally hear him whimpering over the loud conversations and jukebox music. A few more hour’s passed and every customer had stumbled out of the bar as it was nearly closing time, except for that man with the sad eyes. I could have sworn he had not changed positions since I poured his first and only drink a few hour’s ago. “Hey man, I’m sorry but we’re about to close”. I said on the other end of the bar while he just stared at his glass of booze. We were the only two people left in the bar and the music had stopped so there wasn’t any way he couldn’t have heard me.
I was a little annoyed as it had been a long shift and I was dying to get home and sleep in my comfortable bed. I walked over to him and immediately noticed that the man hadn’t even touched his glass of Whiskey.” Did you hear me? I said we’re about to close”. I said towering over him on the other side of the bar. “ I heard you the first time Elizabeth, I’m just not ready to go home yet”. The man said without taking his eyes off the glass. “Look I’m tired and–” I froze mid sentence. I had not told this man my name and it had been the first time I’ve ever even met him before. “How did you know my name?” I said confused. I don’t go by my given name since I was a teenager, my friends and Co workers only knew me by Ellie yet somehow this man knew me.
My mind was racing, I felt oddly terrified by the brief exchange and the possibility of this man wanting to hurt me suddenly crossed my mind. We had an old hunting rifle that some of the other employees had to use on very rare occasions to de-escalate a potentially violent situation. Unfortunately for me it hidden beneath the cash register on the other end of the bar. Maybe if I made a break for it I could grab it before he– “We both know that hunting riffle is only there for show Elizabeth. It’s not even loaded. Besides I’m not here to hurt you.” The man said finally taking his sight away from the glass and staring at me dead in the eyes. They had changed, his eyes no longer looked sad to me but now more tired than anything else. “Who are you? How do you know me? How did you know what I was thinking?” The man pushed the glass I had served him forward towards me and said: “ Elizabeth I’m God.”
Frankly I was in disbelief, wouldn’t you be in this situation? How would you react if someone claimed to be God? I took a deep breath and I chugged down the glass of Whiskey in front of me. “If you’re really God, what the hell are you doing in this shitty bar in fayetteville of all places?” “Well to be fair, I’m in many other places at the same time, having this same conversation with many other people.” “And what exactly is this conversation we’re having?” “This conversation is a warning to you and a few chosen other’s I have deemed decent human beings.” The words coming out of his mouth somehow made my stomach drop as I listened to God.
“You all think that I have abandoned you whenever some difficulty comes about in your lives but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There are thing’s I protect you from, huge thing’s, hideous thing’s, abominations that seek to desecrate reality and all my creations. From the beginning I have shielded you, given you paradise and comforts yet you time and again have proven to me that my love for you is misplaced. I gave you free will expecting greatness and all I have gotten in return has been blasphemy, wars raged in my name and and some of you have even denied my very existence!” God became almost enraged saying these last words but quickly composed himself. I could see tears beginning to gather in the corners of his eye’s now. “I guess all I want to say is I’m disappointed in all of you. Mankind is no longer under my protection and the dark thing’s will have their way with you. I only say this to you because you’ve been been kind and only have tried to help your whole life, I have sympathy for those who are deserving of it.” A part of me still didn’t believe a word that was coming out of this man’s mouth but another one was terrified at the implications of what he was saying.
I tried to speak but nothing came out, then the man stood up, left a 10 dollar bill and started walking towars the exit. “Hey wait a minute.” I almost yelled at him.The man who claimed to be God only looked back to say the last word’s that still haunt me to this day: “ Good luck, you’re on your own.”