Odd Prompts: Have a Beer

I don't know that I'll revisit this, but it was fun to write. 

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Micah heard the front door, but didn’t look up from his task. It would be one of his housemates, more than likely. He didn’t look up until the footsteps came closer, then stopped as there was a tapping at the open door. 

“Yeah?” Micah peered over his magnifiers, blinking. He’d been soldering, and the tiny curl of smoke that drifted up from the workbench between them wavered in his breath. 

“Brought you beer.” Josh, the tall thin one with the dark complexion and big eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, hoisted a bag.

“What? Why?” Micah put his soldering iron onto it’s cradle. “I didn’t ask...” 

“Dude!” That was Geoff, popping his head around Josh’s arm and grinning widely. “It’s your twenty-first birthday, of course we brought you beer!” 

“Uh... thanks?” Micah took the paper sack and looked into it. Gleaming bottlecaps revealed that they had given him a six-pack. The guys both looked very pleased with themselves. 

“Happy birthday!” Josh stepped backward, and his delivery made, looked at his watch. “We’d stay and help you drink it, but I’m on shift in thirty minutes and I still have to drop Geoff off on the way.” 

Micah looked up at both of them. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. I didn’t expect anyone to remember my birthday at all.” 

They looked at one another, and then back at him. 

“I wish my mom would forget my phone number.” Geoff swatted Micah’s shoulder lightly. 

 “Don’t get sloshed, man. Save one for us.” Josh added solemnly, in an almost sepulchral tone. 

Once they had left, Micah put the bag down on the clear end of the workbench and regarded it with trepidation. Unlike most of his peers, he’d never gotten a taste for beer. How they had managed to do so, when they had to sneak alcohol, he wasn’t quite sure. Social events were... alien territory for him. The beer he’d been offered was thin, bitter, and generally sour with notes of old mold overlaying it. This gift, then, was more of a gag than a generous gesture. 

“I can always leave it in the fridge for them.” He muttered aloud. Then, he shrugged. It might hurt feelings if he didn’t take out a bottle or two and if he didn’t drink them? The toilet told no tales. 

Micah reached into the bag and pulled out the cardboard container. He felt his eyebrows jump up in involuntary reaction to his surprise at seeing it was a plain white one. No brand logos or designs on the caps, nothing on the holder, and... He pulled one of the amber bottles up. Not even a professional label on the bottle. Instead, there was a white sticker with a hand-lettered name on it. 

“Bugloss and Horehound?” Micah read it aloud. “What the heck is this stuff?”

One thing, his curiosity was thoroughly piqued. Carrying the bottle, he headed for the kitchen. These bottlecaps were totally not twist-off. 

When he popped the top, there was a little wisp of aerosolized vapor that curled up from the bottle, reminding him a little of the smoke from his board. He lifted the cool bottle and sniffed. It smelled like... chocolate. And a little minty herbal note. Micah blinked and regarded the beer suspiciously. While Josh was highly unlikely to prank him, Geoff would in a hot minute. 

Micah poured some into a glass, discovering that the fragrance thus released wasn’t quite chocolatey, more woody and herbal than that. The beer was a dark rich brown, though. With a shrug, Micah took a tiny sip. It danced along his tongue with a burst of flavors, which he was hard pressed to identify. Where other beers were thin and sour, this one was full, rich, and sweet. He took a swig. 

The bottle opener came back with him to his studio along with the bottle and glass. Micah put them in easy reach, and resumed work, stopping to sip at his glass, and musing over the flavors, which seemed to change subtly with every pull at the beer. When the first bottle was gone, he regarded the five remaining ones thoughtfully. If he didn’t drink them, his roommates would. He’d save two for them. 

Getting up, he grabbed another bottle. This one was labeled ‘Rue and Rhubarb’ and it was refreshingly tart, a palate cleanser after the deep dark flavors of the first. He discovered that when he poured this into a glass, it was clear, reddish, with green highlights flashing through the liquid as he turned it and looked through it. 

Work forgotten, Micah quaffed this one. It was light and crisp enough it slid down before he really had time to think about what he was doing. Little flashes of light in the corner of his eye, just out of his peripheral vision, made him shake his head ruefully when he set down the empty glass. He’d never been drunk, or even close to it, but at this rate he was going to learn what that felt like. He felt a certain buoyancy, like he was tethered to many balloons lifting him up. 

He didn’t intend to drink another one. He’d decided he was going to squirrel away the promised two for his housemates, and hide the other two for himself. He was just going to look at the labels and see what else was there... 

It was the last one, the ‘Heather, Thyme, and Honey’ that caught his attention. He’d really like to taste that one. He held it in his hand for a long moment before putting it back in the carrier. With a deep breath, he then stood up, picking up the empty glass, and headed for the kitchen. He felt a little giddy. Like he wanted to move his feet. Like he wanted to dance. Micah stood there in the kitchen staring at the little holder of bottles. He had never in his life willingly danced, but now, there was a faint music and it made him want to move with it. 

He put the beers in the fridge, then started to rinse his glass. When he shut off the water, he realized the music had not been solely in his imagination. It was coming from outside, in the backyard.  

Micah looked out the window and saw the fireflies were out, as the sun had almost fully set. He smiled, and saw this in the reflection from the glass in front of him. “Been a while since I’ve had this much fun,” He told the bearded man with the deepset eyes. “I think I will.” 

Third bottle in hand, he stepped out onto the back porch and stood silently for a moment, taking a deep breath of the sweet-scented air. None of them were gardeners, but someone had been, once. Flowers rioted along the back fence, where the landlord didn’t mow, and behind them the woods loomed up against the indigo sky. Stars glimmered overhead when Micah tipped his head back all the way. 

“It’s a nice night.” He’d gotten into the habit of talking to himself when he was a kid. No one else talked to him, so why not?

“Beer is good.” He announced to no one at all. “At least, if beer is like this stuff.” He lifted the bottle to his lips and took a long draught. This one was the best yet. Tasted like flowers, but it wasn’t too sweet. Like summertime in a bottle. 

There was another flicker of light in his periphery, and he turned his head, thinking it was a bold firefly. Instead, hanging in midair at eye level with him, was a tiny fairy being, all golden-lit and winged. Micah blinked. It didn’t go away. 

“I think I’ve had too much of this...” He turned away toward the back door, and then stopped when he realized that between him and the door was the cool blue waver of... something. As he watched it came into focus as the shape of an old woman, looking up at him. Her face was obscured in the shadows of her bonnet. 

“Ghosts?” His voice squeaked. 

Another golden light, far too large to be a firefly, zipped across his field of vision. “And fairies?” 

He lifted the bottle with shaking hand and regarded it. “What was in this stuff?” 

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My prompt this week came from Fiona Grey, with "It was only halfway through the sixpack that Micah realized his beer granted him the newfound ability to see ghosts and Fae." 

I prompted Fiona in response with "The planet’s changing albedo indicated something strange."

You can read all of the prompt responses, or take part yourself, over at More Odds Than Ends. Next week we're pulling a Halloween Trick and all working off a single prompt! Should be a lot of fun to see what everyone does. 

(Header Image: fireflies by Alexandra Jitariuc)