Assorted Flash Fiction Writings #2
Copyright© 2024 by Chaon
The Barkeep
Writing prompt: You are a tavern keeper who’s been in business for 15 years. A local crime lord is trying to extort you, sadly for them you know tons of adventurers who owe you favors, and even have mimics for chairs.
As you stand there wiping down the glasses and mugs, you simply shake your head at the smarmy little man standing across the bar from you.
He is an insignificant little man who relies on the group of thugs behind him to keep him safe and to apply pressure, pain and agony to his victims.
His latest idea is to come in to your bar, the Mimic’s Secret, and tell you that you will be paying him 10 nobles a month to keep your bar nice and safe or ‘Maybe there might be a small fire and something might happen to you and your family.’
This wasn’t the first time someone had the idea of making threats against him and his family and this latest idiot wasn’t any different to the ones who came before. The thugs were all the same. Idiots who thought that big muscles and a ready dagger or sword were all they needed.
Heh, they were so stupid that they hadn’t even had a good look at the clientele of his bar. Maybe they would have simply walked away instead of coming up and making their tired, old threats.
As the little crime lord kept talking and raising his voice over your lack of concern, the customers started to get quiet as more and more heard the threats and talk of extortion.
Some of the customers reached down for their favorite weapons or stood up and walked to the front door. The smarter ones walked to stand in front of the kitchen door and the stairs to the rooms upstairs. They knew that your family were either working or keeping the younger ones occupied and out from under feet.
The movement of some of your customers finally got noticed by the thugs and the little blathering idiot. They fianlly started to look around and notice just who had been drinking and eating in the bar. And it wasn’t looking good to them as they closed ranks around their boss.
“No, that won’t do you any good.” you finally said. “It’s way too late to start thinking about getting out of here. My friends and customers are not happy about your attempts to extort money from me because they know that it would cause me to raise the price of their drinks and the food I serve. I keep those prices low because I know they aren’t always flush with coin and I even giev them credit or a free meal when they need it, knowing they will always repay me.”
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