When my third pint was set in front of me that evening I asked if there was any truth to the rumour, but all I got was a shrug and a smile I wasn’t sure how to interpret. I looked over again at the photo, and it came to me: If it was true, and the place closed, what would happen to a thing like this man’s photo? Would someone take it home? I realize a photo is just an image, but in this case it was an image that’d been invested with a particular meaning …
Bio:
Joe Davies’ short fiction has appeared in Prism, Grain, the Dalhousie Review, Oyster River Pages, the Dublin Review, and previously in Queen’s Quarterly. He lives in Peterborough, Ontario, and sadly and somewhat ironically his favourite bar in the centre of that town did close shortly after this piece was written.