A real amber of cognac, wine, vodka, whiskey, beer, absinthe, rum and much more was carried throughout the bar, which was quickly drowned out by visitors. This place looked like a bottomless realm 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 belch the moment he opened the door.
No matter how different all the visitors were, they all had one thing in common they constantly drank, and most of them did this until sober reason left their mind for a while, and the next day it would again be executed.
Louis climbed out, down the stairs, and through the woods in the opposite direction from the village front.
He walked a hundred meters, as a silhouette began to emerge in front of his eyes. As he approached, he saw the outline of the FREE DRINK FOR YOUR SOULS establishment.
I didnt turn anywhere Louis thought.
He circled the building and again went in the same direction.
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 a 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 stairs bearded and smelly owners of beer belly. They were still quite sober, or at least seemed to be.
Louis leaned over two gentlemen dressed in stained, neither dirt nor soot shirts 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. You do not know in which direction you need to go to get on the trail?
Two pot-bellied and clumsy strangers only laughed out loud in response. They nearly busted their chubby bellies, as if someone had told them a joke.
Louis considered this reaction to his question an insult, but he did not even speak about it to their faces. He was of a different culture with them.
He approached a lady of about thirty-five, who was standing at the railing, dressed in a severe crimson dress, as if she was preparing for some kind of masquerade ball.
Madam, Im sorry. Could you help?
Of course.
You do not know how to get to the road, otherwise I
Louis did not have time to finish, as a cultured-looking lady answered in a rather sharp form:
If you want to make fun of someone, then have a conscience, do not do this with a woman.
Youre all crazy here, right? What a lunatic!?
Louis hurried inside. Albert will answer his question exactly. Maybe hes the only one here who still has his brains in place.
He walked up to the bar and called out:
Albert?
The bartender turned his polite gaze on him.
Oh, Louis. Already?
Albert, tell me why
He did not have time to finish, as the bartender handed him a piece of paper with some notes. There were the names of the drinks that Louis had drunk the day before, and next to 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 disbelief.
This is your loan, Louis nonchalantly replied the bartender. You will leave here only when you pay off your loan to the institution.
But I said that I would just go home and bring everything in by the evening.
No, no said Albert, leaning towards Louis. Im afraid you misunderstood. 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 anything to the establishment and will be able to leave these walls only if you do not want to buy another drink.
What is heresy? Louis was displeased.
It would look like heresy if I told you from the very beginning that you cannot leave here and wherever you go, all roads will still lead back. And so, you yourself are convinced of everything.
After some thought and silence, Louis said in a somewhat reserved tone, keeping a stony expression on his face:
What did you put on me yesterday?
Monsieur Morel, leaning his hands on the bar, Albert began to explain, while the customers sitting on opposite sides of Louis stared dead at him, not looking up from their glasses, no one, no one, and nothing is mixed here. There is no place for cheating and cheating. 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 like it or not. So welcome to our establishment.
With these words, Albert continued to wipe the glasses.
From the feeling that everyone here is mocking him, Louis got angry and ran out of the bar. He ran away with all his might, passing fallen leaves and tall tree trunks. And again. As soon as he noticed how the silhouette of the bar began to appear before his eyes, he immediately changed direction, but each time the point of stay remained the same. For the thirteenth time.
He ran inside, grabbed a half-filled glass of beer from a nearby table, and threw it straight at the bartender. The glass flew through Alberts unconcerned face and crashed into the rear shelves, breaking a couple of glass bottles.
Now Louis felt like he was in hell.
Welcome to the 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 a great impotence inside and, in despair, dropped to his knees like a stone, covering his face with his hands.
3. STUPID DILEMA
Overcoming weakness in his legs, Louis tore his back from the pine tree, where he had been sitting for the fifth hour. All this time, his mind was listening against its own will to drunken voices coming from a damned diner filled with dozens of brainless drunks. They werent interested in anything other than drinking. All of them drank themselves to such an extent that in their appearance, as well as in their behavior, there will soon be nothing left that could even remotely resemble a person.
Louis reluctantly returned to His steps broke off on the outskirts of the terrace. The lady was still standing there, from whom Louis heard a defiant answer to his question. He approached her again, and this time he had completely different questions in his head.
Sorry.
Yes?
After a long pause, Louis said what he felt was more necessary for this middle-aged woman not to refuse to associate with him:
I want to apologize if I offended you in any way. I I
No. Its you who excuse me.
This answer surprised Louis.
The stranger continued:
I should have guessed right away that you were here for the first day.
By the way, my name is Louis.
The lady held out her hand, which was wearing a pearl bracelet.
Justine.
Louis kissed her hand.
Justine, do you mind if I talk to you about whats going on here?
What are you. Finding a sober interlocutor here is a rarity. So I will only be glad to your company.
Louis thought for a long time about where to start. Leaning against the railing, like Justine, he began to ask:
Who is the bartender?
He serves visitors Justine answered with a grin.
No-no. Who is he
Stumbling, Louis continued after a few seconds.
just, you see, out of anger, I threw a glass at him, and he flew through him. Honestly. I saw it with my own eyes.
I believe. Youre not the first person to throw a glass at Albert. But everyone who tries to do this immediately gets scared when they see all these mystical tricks.
Fine. Where is he from?
Nobody knows. However, as well as where this bar is located.
What do you have in mind? Louis was surprised. Are we not in France?