The tavern, one of the last places you would expect to see a monk. Yet, among the patrons and the drunkards, there were two. A man and a woman in similar drab robes sat at a small table together. Jake, hailing from the monestary of Statefarm, had asked one of his peers to this festival. He had rarely spoken to her before then, only in passing, but had always wanted to engage in a more personal type of relationship.
Dating at the monestary was not forbidden, but neither was it encouraged. The spiritual leaders would always say that life itself was your partner, and fulfilment can only come from within. As much as Jake wanted to believe that, his heart always felt longing for something more.
The silence between them was awkward to say the least. Occasionally they would make eye contact and give quick smiles before looking away again. Jake had hoped to subdue his nerves beforehand by meditating, but it was to no avail. His heart was pounding and he couldn't stop his hands from grabbing or playing with anything around him. He twirled the cup in his hands, fixed the ends of his robe countless times, and had picked enough wood chips off the edge of the table he could use them to start a fire.
"I must apologise for the silence Tey." Jake finally spoke. "I am inexperienced when it comes to social gatherings like this."
"It is alright Jake. I haven't been very entertaining either." Tey joked.
"Of course you're entertaining. I mean... Uh.. to look at.... Wait no not like that! But yeah in that way too I guess... I mean unless that's weird." Jake fumbled over his words. Tey laughed lightly, which set his heart at ease and he laughed with her.
Excuse me a moment." Jake said. "I'll go get us some refreshments." With that he stood up and walked over to the bar. He slumped onto the counter, holding his head in his hands.
"Girl troubles?" A voice asked.
Jake looked up through his fingers and saw the bartender talking to him.
"You could say that." Jake sighed. "I just don't know what to say, or what to do. All I've done is stare at her and make myself look like an idiot."
"You're over thinking things my friend. You just need to relax a little and let the conversation take it's natural course." The bartender said.
"And how am I supposed to relax in a situation like this?" Jake whined.
"Do you even see where you are monk? This is a tavern! I've got just the thing for you, it's my own concoction." He reached under the table and brought out a large green bottle. He poured a small amount into 3 small glasses.
"You expect me to relax from 3 small sips from a big bottle? Sir I may be a monk, but even I wouldn't get drunk off of 3 sips of ale." Jake said.
"Well it's a good thing it isn't ale then." The bartender pushed all three miniature glasses in front of him. "It's much stronger than you think so you need to be careful and space them out." He explained.
Jake, feeling a little insulted by how weak this man thought his body was, drank all three glasses in the blink of an eye. "That wasn't so bad." He thought. All of a sudden a strong bitter aftertaste overwhelmed his mouth. He breathed out and it felt like his throat was on fire. His eyes watered and he coughed a few times before the horrible feeling went away. What was left was a warm and smooth feeling. His mind worked slower, but it seemed more clear. He felt like he could focus on everything at once.
The bartender watched the monk stare at the three glasses for a few minutes before handing him two mugs of ale and sending him back to his table with a smile.
Jake had to watch his step, the ground for some reason was much bumpier on the way back to the table. He had to step over small rolls and bumps that would appear randomly on the ground but would disappear after he passed them.
When he got closer to the table, he noticed another man sitting in his seat. His gut began to broil with anger, but his constant training of mastering his emotions quickly suppressed it. He could tell by the look on Tey's face that she wasn't happy to see this person, so he quickened his pace to make sure she wasn't alone in this situation.
"Tey, please. Won't you accept my offer? I believe it to be very generous and beneficial for the both of us." The man said. Intrigued, Jake hid behind the people next to his table and listened.
"I'm sorry Duri, but I just don't think leaving the monestary is beneficial for me right now." Tey responded.
Leaving the monestary?!
"That's what you said last time Tey. When is it going to be the right time?"
"I- I don't know." She said.
"What could possibly be holding you back in that dump?"
Jake had had enough and stepped around behind Tey.
"What do you mean leave the monestary? And for your information stranger, it is not a dump. It is sacred ground that has been around for centuries. Let us age your bones for thousands of years and see what they look like." Jake said with anger in his voice.
"Jake?! I'm sorry you had to hear that, but I'm not leaving the monestary." Tey said quickly.
"Is this the reason?" said. "Is he the one keeping you at that monestary? Tey what about me? What about us?" Duri said.
"Us?" Jake asked Tey.
"Old partner of mine who is obsessed with me and won't leave me alone." Tey said.
"Oh yeah sure, run off with your new monk boyfriend! I bet his dick and balls were cut off anyways so have fun!" Duri screamed.
Jake was furious. No one talks about his monestary or Tey like that. He was obviously someone with little control over his emotions and was too quick to anger. Meaning an easy opponent for Jake. He stepped around Tey and Duri laughed.
"What are you gonna hit me now monk? I thought you all were peaceful people. All this, be one with nature and love mother earth bullshit."
"I won't hit you, I just want to prove you wrong." Jake said calmly.
"About what?"
Without another word, Jake turned to the table, and began to piss in Duri's drink. The shock of what he was doing froze both Duri and Tey in place. He was almost done when Duri recovered and swung a first at him with an angry roar. Jake easily dodged the attack, and as Duri's fist connected with nothing, his momentum carried him into the edge of the table and into the floor. The cup that was filled with urine toppled over the edge and fell completely onto Duri.
Jake, now having no container to hold his piss, chose to cover him in even more, laughing as he did it.
"Jake what are you doing?!" Tey cried. "Why are you acting this way? You are no monk, just another drunkard." She ran away, tears streaming down her face. Jake quickly buttoned his pants to go after her.
"See I do have a dick and balls." Jake said to Duri who was sitting dumbfounded in a pile of Jake's piss.
He finished up and ran through the crowd to find Tey, "Shouldn't have lost my composure there, it's this damned drink." He muttered angrily.
He searched for what seemed like forever, but she was nowhere to be seen. He knew that if she didn't want to be found, no one could find her.
He sulked back to his table with plans to drown the night away with that mystery drink. When he got there, Duri was gone and another group had taken over the table. He figured it would've happened as the tables are in high demand. Even more downtrodden, Jake started to walk to the bar. Table or not, tonight was a night he would definitely forget.
He noticed an orange glow over the buildings to his left. It was confusing because the sun wasn't meant to come up for another few hours. With a puzzled expression, Jake went to investigate. Normally he would ignore such things, but for some reason he had a feeling of dread. When he got to the main path through the festival, he felt relieved.
"They must've started the bonfire early tonight." Jake said. "I guess I could go there and see if I can party my troubles away."
His senses told him otherwise. For some reason, he couldn't shake that dark feeling. He decided to investigate the issue.
"Hey did you see? The bonfire is lit!" He called to a passer-by as he pointed North.
"It better not be!" The man said. "Tonight isn't the last day of the festival!"
The man was right. If the bonfire was truly lit, then it would signify the end of the festival. But that wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow night.
"Yeah you're right, I'm sure someone is just trying to pull a prank." Jake said.
The dreadful feeling in his chest told him otherwise, and he decided to head north to try to solve this problem on his own.