Norma's Homemade Banana Bar

January Twenty Six

It's a funny thing now that we are all gathered here in The Banana Bar with our muses, waiting for the Day 3 prompt to finally be revealed, when all of a sudden the lights went out, and when the lights came back on you find yourself in the Banana Bar Basement.
Oh No! That's not good. Luckily there was a pen and paper left behind, probably by the last group of bloggers I trapped in the basement somehow. Write about what you find or discover in the basement, and how you find your way out. or if you find your way out Do you meet anyone down there? Is your muse helpful in helping you navigate a path back upstairs?

Ref- The basement guy in the Banana Bar staff intros.


Banana Bar Basement

Lilli sent me an invitation the other day.

“Meet at the Banana Bar for fun and games as we wait for the election results.”

I am reluctant as Andre and I have a tenuous relationship. But I’ll go to be with the other bloggers, if nothing else.

So we meet, join in some fun word games, drink some concoctions some shady character behind the bar is blending. Andre is nowhere to be seen. I hope he’s out of town, perhaps monkeying around with election results.

Averren is new to our group. After introductions, we all listen to his newest work. It’s to be a novel, something he worked on during OctoPrep challenge. Then suddenly, right at the point where the boy meets the girl and the dragon threatens them and the magic spell is cast by the witch and…Perhaps I’m mistaken, the chaos and all of that night has clouded my memory.

Anyway, we’re listening to Dave when suddenly all the lights go out. Of course, the good natured kidding.

“Did Andre forget to pay the bill again?”

“Lilli? Are you overloading those outlets?”

When suddenly ….

WHOOMP

I woke up in the Banana Bar Basement with all the partygoers. Everyone is pulling out cellphones to light up this space. I don’t use a cellphone, but I do have a little light in my purse. Everything is bathed in UV light - the old black light of the 70’s. Faces shine blue, colors shine neon, teeth and whites of eyes are glowing.

“What the …”

“Where did you get that flashlight?”

“We used one of these in the motel. They reveal all sorts of nastiness when you have to clean a room. I just kept it all these years. You never know when it will come in handy.”

All come to me and my handy light. We huddle in a corner, try to get our bearings. Amid the kegs of beer, cases of whiskey, boxes of carryout containers we see perched on an old wooden keg a Leprechaun.

“Ah, hello and greetings to all you unlucky humans. Surprised to see your old friend Grumpy, are ye?”

“Why are we here?”

“Hmm. By golly, I have not the foggiest idea a’tall. Ye’ll have to ask the Basement Guy. I’m just the Leprechaun.” He gave a wink then disappeared.

No Basement Guy that we could see. Holding hands we circled the basement. My UV light picked up mouse droppings, old wine corks, and underfoot the most amazing glowing substance. It entranced us so we didn’t see him approach.

“Hey there! Ho there! Why are you all down here?” Basement Guy shone a giant flashlight on us.

“We don’t know, We just were sitting upstairs…”

“Then there was this sound, WHOOMP!”

“And then we ended up here, in the dark.”

Suddenly the overhead lights blinked on,

“Well, you’re not allowed down here. Liili will have my head if she finds out,”

Behind Basement Guy sat three monkeys, all in a row, on an old bar. The glass behind them reflected nothing, not even us. The monkeys started chattering and jumping. One started mixing drinks, one started to fill beer pitchers, and one ran up to Basement Guy, whispered in his ear.

“Well, seems like the monkeys will let you stay. They say, ‘Party time has started. All drinks are now 1/2 price. And don’t forget to tip’.”

I saw an old-fashioned juke box. One monkey ran to me, asked me what songs I liked. He punched in the numbers, kicked the machine and we had music, loud rock music. Soon everyone was dancing, laughing, having a good time.

Suddenly all the lights went off. The juke box stopped. From the top of the stairs we hear:

“Basement guy! Time’s up! Get your sorry butt up here and clock out.”

We snickered in the dark. Busted.

“You are all on your own. Have fun.” He scampered up the stairs, leaving all of us alone with the monkey trio. In the dark.

But not for long. I powered up the old UV light and the party was back on! That glowing stuff on the floor? Still don’t know what that was. It’s hard to get out of your clothes, however.