A Man & The Stranger - A Short Story (Pranav Pens)

It was a lazy, sombre afternoon. On a Thursday. The bar was scarce, with a few hands holding beer mugs. Some were having pizza and discussing assiduously about what you'd probably come to expect from people sitting in a jazz bar- play, politics and other peoples' affairs. An old Curtis Fuller record was playing in the background. And I was sitting at the farthermost end of the hall, sipping on blueberry mocktail with a half eaten burger on the side, looking at the neon lights with no particular intent. I really didn't know what I was doing at this bar. Heck, I didn't even know what I was doing in a goddam bar, in the first place. Because for one, I don't drink- never had a sip of any kind of drink in my life. Maybe a part of my destiny was to go there, just to be left alone in a stream of my thoughts. And the other part was obviously the reason as to why I'm writing this. The Stranger. The Man. The Dude. Call him whatever you want. But it's about Him.

"Nathan?"

I didn't hear the first time.

"Nathaniel?"

I ignored the second time.

"Nathaniel Adamson?"

This man knew my full name. So I had to look up and see him. With an above average height and perfectly built body, stood a man in front of my table. He wore a rich, dark maroon suit with a contrasting black poly shirt within. If you passed by him on the road, you'd simply take him for yet another businessman or someone at high positions. He looked like yet another common man. But, his face was what caught me. It was unique and mediocre at the same time. Don't mistake me, I'm not a someone who judges anyone based on looks. But the more I think of his face, the harder it gets to describe. Now I know that would surely be a normal thing for us humans, especially if we see someone just once. However, what was different with this man, was the fact that I remember him vividly.

"Yes?", I asked.

"Is this seat taken?"

Asking that, he simply pulled the chair slowly and sat down.

"Not anymore, apparently."

The first thing I noticed was how oddly colored the man was. I mean, you could identify someone by their looks, right? But here was this man who had a blend of colors on his skin. Or so I thought. He looked like the color of the rainbow, and I don't mean that as a compliment. It took a while for me to realize but his face was actually a little transparent. I know how I sound. Bear with me.

"Do I know you?"

"I don't think you do, Nathan. But I think you have thought about me all your life, at the most difficult times."

"Well then, you must've mistook me for some other Nathan. Because it's impossible to think about someone you don't even know existed." I had become a little cocky by then. That day was the lowest point in my life, and then comes a man waltzing in, claiming that I had known him. He simply smiled and looked at me.

"What do you think about God, Nathaniel?"

"I'm sorry brother, but today's not a good day to talk about anything, especially about God."

With that, I thought I had put the man out of words. But, that was when things started to get fiddly. The stranger leaned forward and asked, "Would you believe me if I told you God is actually listening to us talk right now, Nathaniel?"

Till that point in time, I had what you'd call an agnostic relation with God. If someone were to tell me they believed in the presence of such a higher being, I wasn't going to deny their beliefs. But that never meant that I believed in God's existence myself, except for in the difficult times of course. That was until this happened. So I simply told the man what he wanted to hear. "Sure man. Whatever you believe."

"Let me take a step further. Would you believe me if I told you I was God?"

With that, I burst into a fit of laughter. It was already sticky enough in my life, given the fact that it had been the worst day of my life. Oh I didn't tell you the reason, did I? It was simple- I lost my job that day and I was going to lose my marriage too, thanks to my anger at every little imperfect thing. I mean, my wife was a saint to begin with, for having married a man like me. I'm an alright man, with an alright job, doing alright in life. But what was never right was my rage-induced temper at every curveball life threw at me. I had always believed in survival of the fittest. If you're not the fittest, then you work your socks off to get fit in order to survive. I was one among them. So, I always felt that i was supposed to get the best of things since I worked my way up the ladder. Maybe I was feeling entitled. But here's some food for thought- If you had worked on something for decades, won't you feel a sense of accomplishment, with ownership and entitlement tagging along? That was how I viewed my life. Anyway, getting back to the story.

"Look man, I don't know who you are or who set you up for this. But you chose the wrong day, like I said. If you let me be, that would be of great help."

"But weren't you the same man who cursed up in my name everytime things went south in your life, Nathan? Didn't you want me to come down and tell you things are going to be fine? Didn't you demand answers to all your problems? Didn’t you want me not to give you anymore sticky situations?"

"So you're a psychic. That's who you are, aren't you? Or maybe a spy or a stalker? You want money, don't you?"

He laughed. "You'd rather believe I'm a psychic or even a stalker than believe I'm a God. Really Nathan?"

"Alright man. What do you want me to say? You're just piling up more to what seems to be an already shitty day. I'm on the verge of losing my marriage. Okay let's just consider what you said. Let us allow the possibility of you actually being God. How am I supposed to believe you're The Almighty? Here, take this glass of water. Can you turn this to wine?"

Now, he laughed convulsively. "Nathan, I don't think that's a part of my skill set. You're thinking of my friend there. Great man. You just guessed him at the wrong instance."

"Wait are you telling me that the Christians got it right?"

"Not particularly Nathan. If you really want to know, then all of them got it right. The Hindus, the Muslims, and everyone else too. But is that what you really want to know?"

I sat there, pondering on it for a moment. "Why me, then? Why now? If you're God, why are you here now and why'd you choose me? Sure, you would've heard me screaming on top of my lungs everytime things went south in my life. But, I put out the fire always, no matter what. You never really came those times, man. So why now?"

"Exactly. You put out the fires always, Nathan. You never really needed me. And also, I wasn't supposed to interfere with lives of people. That creates unforeseen ripple effects."

"Wow. You're saying that even someone like God can't control lives. Isn't that the first power of being a God? To be able control lives?"

"No Nathan. I'm just a creator. I'm not supposed to interfere with the lives of my creations, even if I can. And, aren't you humans crazy about free will?"

I took a sip of my blueberry mocktail. "So you're saying that YOU gave us free will?"

"No. I'm saying that I simply gave out a code of instructions based on which all living things live, interact and react. That includes free will. I didn't set my mind to create free will separately. That's not how it works."

"If you're God, are you going to grant me wishes?"

For this, he simply looked deep into my eyes and then said, "No Nathan. I've already given you the greatest gift anyone can have. The gift of life. I'm simply here to tell you not to throw away your life. You're alive to fulfill your destiny".

"So, I have free will, which I'll have to use to fulfill my destiny. If that's the case, then for all I know, you could simply be yet another man that I crossed paths with. If you are God, then why didn't you stop Hitler from rising? Why didn't you stop Holocaust? Why didn't you stop the East India Company from invading the lands of India?

Why didn't you stop racism? Why didn't you stop wars when they happened? Why didn't you stop viruses from being created? What makes you special? What makes god God?"

"I didn't do those things because the humans as a species had to grow. And growth isn't to be measured in isolation. It is to be measured alongside the extremities. To evolve, you face hardships. It is through such hardships, you learn to fight by innovative means. Sometimes that leads to dire consequences, such as the creation of the nuclear bomb for instance. But mostly, you come out successful as the human race. And that's what matters. And to answer what makes me special. It's you. The humans. The plants. The mountains. The birds. The creator is no better than his creation. As you evolve, so do I, along with you. But if I sense a situation so catastrophic that I know the living may not be able to survive, then I use my power to eliminate what poses as the threat. That's what makes God special, Nathan."

"So you're like an equalizer?", I asked.

"I'm not as cool as Denzel Washington in that movie, for sure. But yes, I'm somewhat of an equalizer."

I was a little surprised hearing this from him. "Woah! You know our pop culture too?"

"Nathan, I'm not an alien. I'm simply a creator watching his creations grow and create. So, I do know all about your pop culture & celebrity worship."

There was an awkward silence after this.

"You may now ask me why I came all the way here to ask you to not throw your life away, if I simply took care of grander things. It's because that's who I am, Nathan. I appear when you need me the most, to make sure you run the course you're destined to. Think of me as a scientist or an engineer who wants to ensure that his creations do not crash or act up so that the entire engine or system of Earth functions effectively. That's why I'm here Nathan. I can't stop you from taking whatever decision you make. Or rather, I won't. I get that you've lost your job. That might not have been in your control. But you're marriage certainly is. You're married to a beautiful woman and have amazing kids. Things may seem tough now. But, if you work on that temper of yours and get your mindset cleared, you'll have a great life. Now you do have a choice. You get to decide what you want to do. The question is- what are YOU going to choose?"

I was looking at the glass I was holding, which was almost empty. That was when the waiter and the manager of the jazz bar approached my table. "Sir, I'm sorry to intrude you, but my employee here tells me that you've been talking to yourself for a while now. That's not crazy, considering that you're in a bar. But I think it would be better if you get the check sir, as we are nearing the closing time of our bar."

I looked up and noticed no one sitting in front of me. There wasn't even the smallest of the signs of someone who might have sat there. Not a dent or crease on the seat. "But I don't drink. I've never had a sip of alcohol", I said.

"Ah yes, sir. That's what they all say", replied the manager.

I thought for a while and decided not to indulge in that conversation as that was not going to bear any fruit in my life. So I paid and left the jazz bar, with a smile on my face. When I stepped outside, it felt as if I had been sucked by a wormhole into another plane devoid of time and space. I went into a jazz bar and came out a different man, with a better perspective on life. Till this day, I do not know who that man was. I know that I couldn't have hallucinated talking to the man who called himself God because, it was real. It felt real. And because, that conversation changed me. Isn't that the way we measure our experiences? If something or someone changes the rudimentary way of your thinking and how you look at life, then you consider that a real experience, for it would be forged in your life and etched in your memory forever. Am I doing better now? Well not as great as I want. But I certainly am feeling better. I still have my beautiful family. I'm working on my own passion, as I have amassed a great deal of wealth during my time working for someone else. But I'm done doing that. I'm done working on the terms of others when I can create my own path. I literally met a God who told me that we all have free will, and the very life we have was a gift. Looking back, it seems funny that a stranger claiming to be God told me my life was his gift, because my name literally means 'Gift from God'. Was it a cruel joke or just pure happenstance? I don't really have answer for that. I still don't know if I really believe the man was god. But that was the most strangest confab I've ever had with anyone in my life. And all I know is this- I once entered a jazz bar a gloomy man without a job and came out a confused man with a serendipitous outlook on life.