Henry Porter (the short)

It's simple. A mysterious and magnetic man, named Henry Porter, walks into a bar and sits next to your average small town every-man, Tom. What begins as meaningless banter between the two of them turns into a lively and engaging conversation. Through gradually and patiently layered dialogue, it becomes clear to the reader, however, that Henry is not there by accident, but is in fact "playing" Tom for some unknown reason. When Tom runs off to the bathroom, Henry orders him an Old Fashioned...and poisons it. Once Tom drinks it and begins to show signs of the toxin taking hold, Henry begins to reveal himself to be a more sinister character than we could have imagined. The tone turns dark as Henry talks about death, killing God, and Ahab from Moby-Dick. When Tom nearly passes out at the bar, Henry takes him outside. The rest of the short takes place on a bench sitting alongside a main street. The tone turns tragic as Tom begins to die for an apparently old, unpaid debt. However, as he dies, Tom performs one last act of internal strength: he begins to pray The Lord's Prayer. This small thing goes virtually unregistered by Henry, yet...we see something in his eye. Perhaps this will stay with him** Tom dies. Henry drives away. The end. **To find out the larger story, which takes many twists and unexpected turns, read the Feature Length version of this story!