Matt was wiping the last batch of drinking glasses when he heard the bell being rung as the door was opened. Someone had come in to buy liquor. “We are closed, man!”, he said loudly into the air with his back to the entrance, and he heard another ding from the bell, signalling the exit of the customer. The bar, Her Ladyship, was the only bar left on this side of town. It was built in the early 1900's, and this was 2005, so it was almost a hundred years old and has been passed down through generations.
Most who patronise the bar prefer their whiskies, beers, and various concoctions, but he was sure that he could make a mean ale. ‘Gosh! I miss my father’, he thought. His father had taught him the art of brewing ale, although most regulars go for beer. His father passed away the previous year, leaving him as the sole owner of Her Ladyship at the age of twenty-five.
The bar was vintage, fair-sized, and cosy. Every piece of furniture was made from real mahogany, and a day was dedicated to having them polished once every six months. There was a real fireplace at the corner, and it was lit every night during the winter. He usually enjoyed that particular season because his nights were spent in front of that fireplace with a mug of warm ale.
He heard another ding from the doorbell. ‘You would think people would read signs and stay away’, he thought. “The sign says closed! We are closed!”, he said this time and faced the door. He didn’t see anyone. “What the hell!” he said, walking towards the light switches to flip all of them on.
A creak came from a chair scraping against the ground, then the door leading to the storage flipped open, and he heard bottles being broken back there. It all happened so fast, in less than a minute. He ran to the storage and flipped the light on the moment he stepped inside. "What?! Who?! What are you?". He stared at a greenish dwarfish creature causing chaos in his storage room. “What are you?", he bellowed. The chaos stopped; he had gained the creature’s attention.
“I am Seventus. Your family goblin”, the creature said.
“Ah! A goblin”, Matt thought. His father had mentioned the existence of a family goblin to him five years ago, and it was in the service of his father’s only sister, Aunt Rose. Matt could only wonder what the goblin was doing here in Alaska, over five thousand miles away from Aunt Rose.
“What are you doing here, goblin-er-Seventus?”, he asked.
“I have been sent to work for you”, Seventus replied.
“Why?”
“My former master, Mrs. Rose Blackale—rest her soul—has died. Since she has no child, I have to go and serve the last living member of the Blackale family, which is you”, he answered.
Matt slid to the floor in shock. Aunt Rose was the only living relative he had left, and now she was dead. They had talked about her coming here by winter last month, and she just passed away. He was all alone. Again. The sound of a bottle being broken again distracted him from his thoughts. “Hey! Stop it!”.
“I can’t stop because you are not yet my master”, Seventus said as he picked up another beer bottle and smashed it against the ground.
“What should I do to become your master?”, Matt asked.
“You would ask me to pledge my loyalty and obedience to you and promise to take me under your charge”, the goblin replied.
“Okay. Seventus? Do you promise your loyalty to me?”
“Yes, I do”.
“Do you promise to obey and serve me as I require of you?”
“Yes, I do”.
“If so, I accept to be your master, Seventus, and you shall be under my protection. Do you accept these terms?”
“Yes, master, I do”.
“Okay, now, don’t break anything in this place, Seventus. It is family property and has been here for generations”, Matt chided him.
“Yes, master. I served your grandfather, Sir Alex Blackale; rest his soul in this very establishment”.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“Yes master”.
Matt remained on the floor, thinking about what to do about Seventus. He had three staff members who worked shifts at the bar, and he didn’t know how they would cope with the existence of a goblin.
“Master?”, Seventus called out.
“Yes, Seventus”.
“There is an issue we need to take care of”.
“Go on”, Matt encouraged.
“You need to take a wife, Master. The Blackale family is almost extinct! It is your filial duty to lengthen and strengthen the line. The Blackale family has been associated with strong bloodlines in Alaska. There are witches, druids, and fairies—people who are unique”.
“You mean people who are not quite human?”, Matt inquired.
“No, master. They are as human as you. There are three families that relate well to the Blackale family. The Castles, the Bluefins, and the Smiths And you are in luck; all three families have young ladies of marriageable age, the same as you”.
‘Marriage? A goblin is talking to me about marriage’, Matt thought to himself.
“They would come to this bar starting tomorrow, one young lady per day”, Seventus said.
"Wait, what are you talking about?”.
“I am saying that for the next three days, a young lady from each of these families will visit you at this bar. It is your duty to court them each day. You would know the right one after you meet all three”, Seventus informed him.
“I am your master. I should be the one telling you what to do and not the other way around", Matt said angrily.
“There is nothing I can do, Master. The families have been notified. You just need to play your part, and fate will sort itself out. Life can be devasting when spent alone. One last thing: you must kiss each lady goodnight, and it must be on the lips”.
“A kiss? Why?”. The goblin didn’t answer. Matt could only sigh in acceptance.
The next day, Tuesday, Alexis Castle showed up. A witch. She was as tall as he was; she had long blond hair and soft blue eyes. Their conversations were polite until they played a few games, and she loosened up a bit after two mugs of beer. She was really good at the game of mahjong, and he really admired that about her. The evening ended on a calm note, and the goodnight kiss they shared was soft and sweet. He liked it.
Wednesday. Brenda Bluefin arrived at the bar with black locks of braided hair on her head. A druid. She had striking brown eyes and olive skin. She spoke with so much confidence and strength and had something to say about everything. She played the game of darts well enough and liked strong liquor. Despite all these qualities, she was easy to talk to. He could consider her a friend, but he wasn’t sure if he would see her again. Their kiss was chaste and friendly.
Thursday. Josie Smith. A fairy. She was a petite beauty with a five-foot-tall frame. Her long, curly brown hair fell down her back in waves. She had a striking pair of green eyes and rosy lips. ‘Woah! Her lips looked kissable’, he thought. He observed that she was gentle, kind, and outspoken. She had a fire in her, and she loved to cook. She wasn’t a bad conversationalist, and she was really good at the game of chess. The kiss they shared that night left him drowsy and in need of more.
He couldn’t sleep after Josie left that night. He was restless, and when he finally fell asleep, he had a dream. In this dream, there were three gnomes dancing around him while he sat on a chair and watched in confusion. He woke up on Friday and called Seventus to him. “Now that the courting is over, how would I know which to choose?”, he asked.
“Well, master, on which night of which day did you have a dream?”, Seventus asked.
“Last night”, Matt replied.
“Okay. And what did you see?”
“I saw three gnomes dancing around me”.
“Gnomes signify good luck, fertility, protection, and abundance. Congratulations master! She’s the one that you would spend your life with. A fairy. Perfect choice, master!”, Seventus said excitedly.
Matt was speechless. It was a wonder that he was about to have a fairy for a wife, and when he kissed this particular fairy, she made his head spin. He was excited. “So, what do we do next, Seventus?”
“We prepare”.
“We prepare to do what?”.
“We are to visit the family, pay our respects, and properly court her, master”.
Matt absorbed the information and prayed that Josie Smith felt the same way about him as well. It looks like he won’t have to be alone for much longer after all.