The Tavern

A long day is fading with its light's departure, the sounds of shoes against the unpaved mud awakens the night, along with candles and rhymes. The Tavern is open, yes, that magical place where music inspires, stories never end, and every soul wants to listen to troubadours and their adventures. when the silence takes over the voices and makes them surrender to the strings' lute. The tavern receives locals, nobles, and travelers, everyone is welcomed to cheer with cheap ale, or wine if you can afford it.

But why do people love the Tavern? Some says it's the best place to forget that hateful daily job, or maybe just the perfect way to escape from their own reality. It's easier to conquer fears when the goblet is never empty. There are always loud laughs and spilled drinks on the table, no one cares while there is more to share. Some people prefer a life like Achilles, a short life with glory instead of long years unnoticed. As the night continues, there are fewer and fewer people in the tavern, some already drunk, but the rest need to keep the fantasy. The illusion is so pleasant, like a dream, but with eyes open. “The night is still young”—screams someone from the bar, while giving free cups of wine to the strong ones at midnight, and the fantasy continues. The music is now softer, and everybody is gone except for the troubadour, three companions, and his lute. The last awake old man requests with a thick, tired voice, "One more story, please, one more," with the intention of not letting the night come to an end. There is something special about the tavern, he doesn't want to go back to the real world. He is aware that eventually will have to pay the bill for those drinking nights to life. Only then, without regrets, time will become the most valuable treasure, just like a memory of those nights. And with the melody of the lute, as the candle goes down, everyone leaves the stage, with the hope of a shorter day. Because later, with another light's departure, the same shoe-step noises will begin, and the doors will be open to the locals, nobles, and travelers, with the same songs, poems, and stories, at the same place we go hiding from reality, with open arms and a sign at the door that says: “The Tavern is open.”

L. Gerard 2025