News From Poughkeepsie – Day 120

Western…as high fantasy

“Merlin! I’m callin’ you out!”

Merlin did not come out of the tavern. Merlin wanted nothing more than to crawl back into a bottle of whiskey, and forget about the dark wizard who waited on the dirt road outside. He had a shot in his hand, and by the gods, he was going to keep drinking until he blacked out.

Only, Arthur was there, wasn’t he? The boy deserved a better role model than a drunken wizard. If he was to be the future of this land, then Merlin had to show him. And getting drunk, while desirable, never brought about a positive future.

“Boy,” Merlin said to Arthur. “Fetch me my wand. Looks like a bully needs to be shown some manners.” Merlin left the whiskey on the bar; their would be plenty of time for that after…