"I'm snobody special," cried Dan to himself as he sat in the alley between the tavern and town hall. The only thing he gripped tighter than his self loathing was his bottle of rye whiskey. "I wish someone would just kill me already," he continued to baaaaw to himself.
"Dan, there you are," said the Colonel warmly as she approached the drunkard. "We've been looking for you."
"Who is been looking for you?… me?" Dan answered. "Come sit with me," he beaconed. The Colonel obliged and sat next to Dan. He wreaked of whisky, failure, and the premature stench of death.
"It's not been the same since Lolly died," Dan hiccuped. "Had to close the aviary after it burned down. Those birds had such beautiful red wings, and they hunted like tigers. No! like lions!"
Colonel patiently listened to his ramblings. She knew that times had indeed been hard for him. He had no friends and the townsfolk mostly only tolerated him because they felt sorry.
"Come on, Dan. It's time," said the Colonel as she helped Dan to his feet.
"Where are… are we going, Colonel?" asked Dan stumbling over his words worse than his feet.
"You're going to see Lolly," she replied after a short pause.
Dan didn't answer as a tear rolled down his face. He quickly brushed it away in a hopeless attempt to retain a degree of dignity, Had he been of clear thought, he might have understood her meaning.
"This isn't the cemetery," said Dan puzzled as Colonel escorted him into the tavern. "I thought we were going to see Lolly."
"In a moment," she spoke kindly.
"Why is everyone here?" asked Dan as they walked across the threshold. The tavern was indeed full of villagers. They all sat quietly looking at Dan. No one dare speak save for the Colonel.
"They are here for you Dan," she spoke with empathy.
"For me?" he asked puzzled.
"We have a drink for you," she continued as she tried to take the bottle of whiskey from Dan, but he would not relinquish his vice.
"What are we drinking to?!" he said as his spirits rose and Sean the bartender poured him a tall shot from a jet black bottle.
"To you, of course," she said.
"Aren't you taking one too?" asked Dan, "I can't drink alone!"
The Colonel hesitated for a moment before nodding to Sean. He reached for another bottle and poured her a shot as well.
"To you Dann!" said Colonel as she held up her shot.
"No!" shouted Dan. The crowed all shot uneasy glances at each other. Still though, none dared speak. "To the future!"
"To the future," Colonel said softly and they both threw back their shots.
"I feel… sleepy," Dan muttered as the Colonel gently helped him to the floor. He would never know why the villagers all conspired to kill him. He had obviously not been the one to kill Enigma. In truth maybe the villages saw it as a way to end his pain and rid themselves of his general poor sportsmanship attitude.
As Dan's eyes slowly closed for the last time, his thoughts drifted to Lolly and, at last, he could finally let go of his bottle of whiskey.
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Wolf Neon send me your kill and psychic, send me a guess. The night ends at May 14, 2012, 12:00:00 PM