Be that as it may, he decided that he should return home as soon as possible.
– Um… – Louis drawled, walking up to the counter, squeezing between two customers – Albert?
– Yes?
– Thank you for yesterday. If you don’t mind, I’ll go home and drop off the money this evening.
– Oh, sure.
It was noisy around. Everyone was talking about something. At a table in a corner four people took turns playing elimination backgammon. A couple of tables gathered those who were puzzled by the search for answers to the questions of the universe, the existence of a certain balance regarding karma for misdeeds, how human freedom is expressed, where the line between the forbidden and the permitted lies, and other philosophical topics. Among the rest were those who washed down their grief with the cheapest alcohol; someone was reading something diligently; at the foot of the stairs a couple of moderately sober and very brave clients suddenly had the epiphany that it was time to sort things out, but not with idle chatter, but exclusively in a fist fight with an admixture of squint under the influence of a liter of bourbon. There were also those who threw dice, after which the loser drank one hundred grams from a personal bottle that stood near the glass and the winner was the one who had more contents left in the bottle.
Throughout the bar there was a real aroma of cognac, wine, vodka, whiskey, beer, absinthe, rum and much more that the visitors were rapidly pouring into themselves. This place looked like a bottomless kingdom of alcohol.
On the approaches to the exit, a mustachioed German with a heavy belly appeared in front of Louis. He smelled strongly of beer, especially when he let out a powerful burp as soon as he opened the door.
No matter how different all the visitors were, they were all united by one thing in common – they drank constantly, and most of them did this until sober reason left their minds for a while, and the next day they were again put to execution.
Louis got out, went down the stairs and walked through the forest in the opposite direction from the front, where the village was located.
He walked a hundred meters when a silhouette began to appear before his eyes. As he approached, he could see the outline of the “FREE DRINKS FOR YOUR SOULS” establishment.
“I didn’t turn anywhere,” Louis thought.
He walked around the building and headed in the same direction again.
Five minutes passed and the same bar appeared in front of him. So he continued to wander through the forest for about half an hour, each time bumping into the bar.
For a moment Louis thought that maybe he was doing something wrong and decided to approach two visitors sitting on the steps of the entrance staircase – bearded and odorous owners of beer bellies. They were still quite sober, or at least they seemed so.
Louis leaned over to two gentlemen dressed in stained shirts that were either dirt or soot and asked:
– Gentlemen, could you help? I left the bar and went straight west twice already, but for some reason I still came back here. Can you tell me which direction I need to go to get to the trail?
The two pot-bellied and clumsy strangers only laughed loudly in response. They almost burst their plump bellies, as if someone had told them a joke.
Louis considered this reaction to his question an insult, but he did not speak about it to their faces. He was from a different culture with them.
He approached a lady of about thirty-five standing at the railing, dressed in a strict crimson dress, as if she was preparing for some kind of masquerade ball.
– Excuse me, madam. Can you help?
– Of course.
– You don’t know how to get to the road, otherwise I…
Louis didn’t have time to finish speaking when the cultured-looking lady answered in a rather harsh manner:
– If you want to make fun of someone, then have a conscience, don’t do it to a woman.
Are you all crazy here, or what? What kind of madhouse!?
Louis hurriedly went inside. Albert will definitely answer his question. He might be the only one here who still has a brain.
He walked up to the bar and called out:
– Albert?
The bartender turned his polite gaze towards him.
– Ah, Louis. Already?
– Albert, tell me why…
Before he could finish speaking, the bartender handed him a piece of paper with some notes. The names of the drinks that Louis drank the day before were indicated there, and opposite each name was the number of days. A line was drawn at the bottom, and under it the final figure was 3 days.
– What is this? – Louis asked in bewilderment.
– This is your credit, Louis – the bartender calmly answered. – You will leave here only when you pay off your loan to the establishment.
– But I said that I’ll just go home and bring everything in by the evening.
– No – Albert said, leaning towards Louis. – I think you didn’t understand quite correctly. Our visitors do not leave the establishment until their debt to the establishment is repaid. The cost of each drink is determined by days. The price of what you drank yesterday is one day per glass. Therefore, after 3 days you will no longer owe the establishment anything and will be able to leave these walls only if you do not want to buy another drink.
– What kind of nonsense is this? – Louis expressed dissatisfaction.
– It would look like nonsense if I told you from the very beginning that you will not be able to leave here and no matter where you go, all roads will still lead back. And so, you have convinced yourself of everything.
After some thought and silence, Louis said in a restrained tone, keeping a stony expression on his face:
– What did you give me yesterday?
– Louis, – Albert, leaning his elbows on the bar counter, began to explain, while the clients sitting on opposite sides of Louis looked at him deadly, – no one is mixing anything with anyone here. There is no place for deception and fraud here. You are sane and you are not sleeping. What happened is an absolute reality and in the next three days you will have to believe in it, whether you want it or not. So welcome to our establishment.
With these words Albert continued to wipe the glasses.
From the feeling that everyone was mocking him here, Louis got angry and ran out of the bar. He ran away as fast as he could, passing fallen leaves and tall tree trunks. And again. Barely noticing how the silhouette of the bar began to emerge before his eyes, he immediately changed direction, but each time his destination remained the same. For the thirteenth time already.
He ran inside, grabbed a glass half filled with beer from a nearby table and threw it straight at the bartender. The glass flew through Albert’s carefree face and crashed into the back shelves, breaking a couple of glass bottles.
Now Louis felt like he was in hell.
Welcome to “FREE DRINKS FOR YOUR SOULS” bar. Who knows, maybe people in this place really sold their souls for a glass of excellent alcohol?
Louis felt enormous powerlessness inside and, in despair, sank to his knees like a stone, covering his face with his palms.
3. STUPID DILEMMA
Overcoming the weakness in his legs, Louis lifted his back from the pine tree, where he