(Page 1 of 2) Good ... Evil by Dan BiegerSUMMARY: Another entry in the October flash fiction contest.They were once again spending an evening in their favorite bar, The Chapel, re-enacting their quadrennial discussion of the good, the bad, and the ugly of presidential elections. Stephen had offered the traditional choice between the lesser of evils; Marvin had countered with ‘why would a good man submit himself to the sacrificial altar of media coverage?" In all, it was as verbatim as a repeated conversation could be.
"Enough," Stephen announced. "I cannot and do not want to do this anymore. Offer me a new subject, a new drink, or force me to venture out into the coolish desert evening returning to a home and computer that will not bore me to tears."
"Done," Marvin answered, his head turning toward the bartender, his hand raised in polite summons. The bartender responded as quickly as his age permitted, arriving in less time then it took for Marvin to explain to his friend that they were about to experience one of the truly fine concoctions ever envisioned by the mind of man, in this case the mind of a Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon of the Raffles Hotel. Then, addressing the bartender, a friend and sometime participant in their discussions, a gentleman of apparent Asian descent but known to the patrons as Senor Viejo, Marvin confirmed that the man was familiar with the drink he desired to order. Senor Viejo assumed the bearing of one grievously insulted, answering "Was I not in attendance, myself, when first it appeared in this world?" and then moved off to perform the solemnities.
"A Singapore sling?" Stephen asked.
"Indeed, my friend; indeed. An almost perfect accompaniment to the conversation we now begin. We are going to discuss opposites."
"And how does a Singapore sling support such a discussion?"
"The ingredients, man, are a litany of sweet and sour: gin, cherry brandy, pineapple and lime juice, Cointreau, Dom Benedictine, and grenadine, a dash of Angostura bitters, all garnished with a slice of pineapple and a cherry."
Stephen conceded such an astonishing set of ingredients ought to provide fine liquid abutment to a discussion of opposites. "Which opposites did you have in mind?" he asked.
"In line with our previous conversation, let's begin with good and evil."
"Fine with me. What do you want to know about them?
"Why are they opposites?"
Stephen considered the question before offering: "By definition, I suppose. If memory serves, a good...er, decent dictionary says that good means something having desirable or positive qualities, especially those suitable for a thing specified."
Marvin was grinning and nodding his head in total agreement. "Exactly, my friend, good is describing innate qualities. But think about evil. It gets defined as morally objectionable behavior. Evil can only be determined by watching what it does. It can't be evil till it acts. Intentions, presumably, cannot be evil because there is no implementation. Like the Bard in Julius Ceasar: "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"
Senor Viejo chose this time to re-enter the conversation carrying twin Collins glasses filled with ice and a very pink liquid that he presented to his customers.
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