Chapter Seven

It was a slow night. Midweek usually is. Pete had wiped down the bar for the 6th time. BarCat nursed his drink while catnapping between patrons walking in and out. A man and a woman walked into the bar and sat beside Barcat. They both order a shot with a beer chaser. Neither seemed to notice BarCat as they were deep in a meaningful conversation.

They were discussing Atlantis. The woman kept saying it was in the Mediterranean while the man tossed out all sorts of preposterous ideas. It was in the Bahamas, it was on a planet surrounding Sirius, it was in the Atlantic, it was in Patagonia. They kept arguing for two hours, ordering shots and beer chasers. The more drunk they got, the louder and the more stupid the conversation got. They were out and out obnoxious after a bit. The man then suggested that they could confirm their "theories by going back in time." Yeah, said the woman. I wish that could happen, so perhaps you would shut up and admit you have no idea what you are talking about." She had insisted all along that Atlantis was by the Pillars of Herakles.

Then it came out that they were both Sorcerers. He started discussing using magic to time travel. She was skeptical at first, and as the conversation went on for another half hour, and they really were shitfaced by this time, she was more and more sure they could do this. The discussion, however, continued for another half hour, arguing about the best method to execute the magical trip. Loud and obnoxious, as far as BarCat was concerned. It was disturbing his catnaps.

BarCat had enough. He granted her wish. Within a few minutes, the two dismounted from the barstools, the man threw a couple of bucks on the counter as a tip, and the two staggered up the stairs and out into the street.

A couple of weeks later, with a show on TV about Atlantis, Pete commented to BarCat about the two sorcerers. They hadn't been back. Maybe they really did figure out how to time travel. He then laughed. More than likely, they ended up on a train to Hoboken and have yet to figure out how to get back.

BarCat smiled. Yes, it would be a one-way trip, he thought to himself. The man got part of the story right, as Atlantis was a planet. Some Atlanteans had escaped before the planet blew up. As the Sun was the closest to their solar system, the Atlanteans did end up on Earth. He wondered if the two had made it into one of the ships for the return trip. But still, that was thousands of years ago. Yeah, it's pretty much a one-way trip. For a moment, he wondered if they actually thought they had done a magical spell to travel in time.

He contemplated the drink before him, took a few licks, and dozed off.