Part 1
“Personally, I quite believe that humans are avarice creatures.” Dan Whitman was conversing with a random man he had met in a bar.
“Avarice creatures? Man, that kind of talk can get you a punch in the face.” The man was nearly drunk, something that was clear to Dan. “What does avarice mean?”
Dan looked up at the bartender, “Avarice means a desire for something out of greed. The desire can be anything in this world, especially money. But all humans have their secret temptations. The sins that lie deep inside of them, but it is not my place to speak of such things.” He was still staring at the bartender as he talked. He noticed his unshaven face, pale expression and the fact that he never seemed to smile.
The man took a swig of beer and laughed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Dan smiled and inconspicuously pointed towards the bartender, “Take him for example. Just by simply looking at him, you can tell there is something deep inside of him that he dares not tell any other human being. Perhaps not even a loved one. Yet when I look at him, I see his wants and needs. He desires someone that loves him and understands him. He desires money, a nice car, a better bar, the Yankees to win the game next week and—“ he paused for a moment, “and many other things that I can only assume he would not want egregious to the world.”
“I fail to see the entire point of this conversation.” The man was beginning to sober. The “deep” talk was ‘harshing his buzz’.
“Do you see that woman there, the blonde woman? She is sitting with her husband having a wonderful time, yet she still has wants and needs. She wants children, a boy and a girl. She wouldn’t mind accepting a large fortune from her father. And what she needs—“ Dan paused to stare at the blonde haired woman more intently, “She needs love and attention.”
“She’s sitting there with her husband, how can you say she needs love and attention?” The man sat and thought for a second. “Unless you mean to say—“ he was interrupted.
“Sex, my dear man, is not love nor is it attention. She is married to him to fulfill her good Christian duties and suffice to her wants. She needs to be married to have children. We’re slaves to our temptations, no matter how much we suffer to follow them through. Some would call it a flaw, but I call it grandiose. Humans are human with their wants and their needs no matter the human and no matter what leads.”
“Alright, why are you here anyways? You just kind of sat down here and brought this predicament to me. Why?” The man was anxious and a little frightened by Dan, whose physical features may be enough to confuse the average person.
His hair is long and silky black. He wears a white baggy shirt and pants, both with black stripes running down them. And he walked in with a strange looking hat, a circular convexed hat like in kung fu movies, and laid it on the table.
Dan smiled and looked at the man across the table from him. He stared into the man’s eyes until one of them finally blinked. “If I tell you why I am here, I must ask that you do not speak of this to anyone else. My secret is something of like the secret sin that human’s wish to be kept secret. You must promise me that I can trust in your tight lips.”
The man shook his head slowly until he looked back up at Dan. “Alright, you can trust that I will tell no one of your secret.” The man was intrigued due to Dan’s suspense. In a semi-sober state he intended to remember what was being told to him.
“As you may well know, I have the gift to look into a human being and see two things: their desires, and their failed temptations; their wants, and their needs. But, there is another perk to this gift. It’s a perk that makes little sense to me and should make no more sense to the likes of you.” he paused, intending to keep the man anxious. “I am able to give you something that is neither a want nor a need. So I leave you this in hopes that you will find peace with what you struggle with inside.”
Dan placed his hands on the table and seemed to be covering an object. The man stared as the table under his hands began to brightly glow. The luminous matter seemed to last forever as Dan smiled. Yet, it finally stopped and Dan removed his hands, revealing a small ornate silver box the size of a wedding ring box. There was no opening, no holes, and no conspicuous ways to get inside.
“You may stare as long as you like, you may even try to break the box. But I leave you with these words, good friend, inside is a thing that is of no need or want to you, yet it is still something that should do you good in this lifetime.”
Dan picked up his hat and put it on. He looked around the bar for a few moments and finally ventured outside. The man quickly got up just as Dan walked out the door.
“Wait!” he yelled. He quickly stuck his head out the door and he held the box. Looking to the left and right, there was no one to be seen. The ground was wet and fog was thick in the air. The man walked back to his table and set the box atop it. “Something that I do not want, nor do I need, but is still pertinent to the welfare of my life.” He sat and thought, defeating the purpose of the alcohol that he had later drunk. “What’s in you?” The box is his need, and what is inside is his temptation.
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Sorry if it is difficult to read, the forum is being a pain
