alternative futures: armor and elixir
09 Oct 2019lukas sat down at the counter. it was 5p.
lukas: “hey pio, how’s it going?”
pio: “it’s alright, lu. how’re you, brother?”
lukas: “you know, the usual. just here to get this armor off.”
pio: oh, i hear you. how deep do you want to go tonight?
lukas: i’m not even sure, man. part of me is thinking i want to go all the way, but you know, the recovery from going all the way…
p: yea, you’ll definitely be taking at least two days off from work and you can’t afford that.
lu: you know what i love about you, man? you really get me.
p (said with a wink): i mean, sure, but also it’s my job… and it’s good for business.
lu: ha, you’re not wrong… well, if you know me so well, how many layers should i try to take off tonight? i’ve only got a couple hours before the kids get home and the wife will be ready to hand them off to me.
p: i think we could probably get three off and back on before 7p.
lu: some day i’ll learn how to get these layers off without this stuff, but til then… serve me up, brother!
pio turned around and grabbed several bottles from the wall shelves. he poured three different drinks, each an increasingly potent elixir. each designed to help his customers tunnel beneath the armor their society had put in them in their adolescence. without the elixir, the armor would stay on for the rest of their lives. but the elixir-masters had learned over time that certain concoctions supported temporary removal of the layers of the heavy, invisible armor. and with the armor removed, the armor wearers found it much easier to tap into their true selves…
note: this story is inspired by some words from eroc on 8 oct 2019 about hard men.
words / writing / post-processing
244w / 11min / 4min