Divebar Stories

Marty Kline owns a dive bar where the lights stay low, the jukebox stays quiet, and nobody asks too many questions. He calls it peace. On Christmas Eve, after last call, the bar refuses to stay empty. Voices from the past, the present, and the spaces in between arrive uninvited, forcing Marty to reckon with the difference between being alone and being free. Last Call for the Living is a quiet, gritty Christmas story about loneliness, grace, and the mercy that shows up when you're convinced you don't need it anymore.

A trauma from her past shows up one day in human form.

"But in a solitary life, There are rare moments, When another soul dips near yours, As stars once a year brush the Earth. Such a constellation was he to me." - Madeline Miller ~~~ 19 year old Camilla Jackson is the most dazzling personality of Prime High, one of the most prestigious institutions of Atlanta, Georgia. Disciplined and industrious, her life goal of becoming an 'Accomplished Perfectionist', more like her parents' goal, has been concealing her inner deprivation; her freedom. And she has accepted that it'll always be this way. However, her life turns wild when she crosses paths with James Wallace, a smoldering man of the street. Thrown into a cursed world full of deadly fights for the fittest to survive, Camilla's life will never be the same, and neither will James's; not now that they've found something both lacked - the newly ignited fire that keeps on burning their trapped souls alive. (Previously known as 'Strayed') Copyright © Anika Prova, 2019.

Just a brief short story.

EVERLONG is a melancholic look at the isolation of modern life even in a crowded room. While set in a bar, this isn't Cheers. EVERLONG uses pop culture as a guide to parallel lives half-lived. Lives of longing, with a smile. Grab your favorite rail drink and I hope you enjoy EVERLONG.

the industry, thru these sad eyes

Short story about the closing of the Tribeca Tavern in NYC's lower Manhattan, in 2021.

Some might call the glimpses of things to come a gift, others would call it a curse. All Mack knows is its a burden, one he carries for a sin he has no clear memory of. Flashes of indistinct images that filter through his drink. Puzzle pieces that reveal themselves sip by sip. With what he knows he can intervene in tragedies...if he's sober enough. This burden is his penance. What will be the final atonement for Mack, The Dive Bar Oracle? --- Original Story based on prompt: He saw the future, not in a crystal ball, but in the bottom of his nightly glass of whiskey.

{ ᴏɴᴄ ʜᴏɴᴏʀᴀʙʟᴇ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ & ᴀᴍʙᴀꜱꜱᴀᴅᴏʀꜱ' ᴘɪᴄᴋ } Tate has been the bartender at The Imp's Bottle for years. The dive bar attracts a trickling array of unusual patrons, but due to his social anxiety, Tate avoids conversation and interaction. ...Until a random encounter with a beautiful girl causes Tate to open up in a way he never imagined possible. Unbeknownst to Tate, the girl's kindness plants a seed, inspiring him to abandon his wallflower nature. The changes are subtle at first, but rather than hyperfocus on his beloved retro music and impulsive need to clean, Tate begins to converse and interact with the bar's patrons. He becomes more outspoken, engaged, and confident. And his positive changes inspire changes in those around him. However, not everyone is thrilled with Tate's newfound confidence. Ali, the bar's prickly lone waitress, has a bone to pick with Tate. And she plans to come out on top of their little workplace rivalry, no matter the cost to her coworker. || A story about how the tiniest pebble can create the biggest ripples, this is my entry for ONC 2023. ||