Sliding behind the bar, my fingers caressed the bottles. His mouth gaped like a slot machine—you know, one of those old-time ones where you put a coin in its hand and it swallows.
“What’re you doing?” his voice emerged in a strangled rasp.
“Name your poison, big boy.”
“You can’t drink that. Château Margaux, 2018. £536 a bottle.”
“Whisky, then. Water of life.” I reached across.
Mouth working soundlessly, finally he gasped, “Laphroaig, 27-year-old. £6,500.”
Well, what can you do with a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing? He never forgave me.
.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Oh, that last paragraph! I love it.
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Thanks so much, Clare
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Dear Neil,
Knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. How profound and well said.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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That phrase, sadly, is not mine
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I have a collection of wines and whiskys and I have to admit I know the value of pretty well every bottle, including a 1985 Bollinger worth – well, never mind! I hope that adage doesn’t apply to me though!
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Beware, then, letting anyone loose in your collection. The Bollinger, by the way, around 500 quid, I reckon
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I’m intrigued, partly because I don’t drink at all and therefore I know nothing about the price of wine or whiskey. I do love that last line, however. It is applicable in many ways.
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THanks so much, LInda. Substitute stamps, coins, shrunken heads, anything you like. It doesn’t much matter
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Excellent.
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Thanks so much
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You raise an excellent point; at what period do you enjoy the pleasures in life instead of hoarding them.
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Some of us are collectors, I guess
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A drunk and a know it all? No grander combination.
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Oh I don’t know that he actually drinks the stuff
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Oh. Ok. I had him pegged as a drinker.
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I’m beginning to think both fit the bill of that assessment. You have me curious about the rasper. Old? Sick? Worse?
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Suppressed fury and outrage
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One of my favourite sayings, along with “everybody has rights and nobody has obligations”. The tension is compelling, I almost felt sorry for the ‘collector’. But I controlled myself.
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Thanks so much, Sandra
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i suppose he’s toast. 🙂
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Almost certainly
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Damn! The value of nothing. Can’t enjoy the drop while thinking of the price that’s for sure.
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I don’t think he ever intends to actually drink any of them. She may have other ideas
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There is a fine line between collecting and hoarding your way into oblivion. Great story.
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Thanks so much, Will
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Loved the last few lines especially. Great tension between the characters. I feel the pain of both…
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Thanks so much, Angela
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He takes expensive tastes to the next level.
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I so enjoyed your feminine voice, Neil.
He’s dead meat.
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Delicious!
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Cheers, Dawn
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Delicious!
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Cheers, Dawn
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