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Flash Fiction

Bach’s Secret

Bach limps into the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig where later in the morning he will conduct a mass. He has a hangnail and is extremely hungry. In the storage room near the apse he takes a tiny bottle of olive oil from his coat and pours it over a plate of communion wafers. He downs them greedily and rubs his hands together scattering the crumbs.

In the church Bach hears a young organist practicing his “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.” He walks up to the second floor and comments on the rendition. He suggests they have ale at the pub just down the street. They go and speak about the universe, their lives—hardly anything about music until the young man says, “Tell me, Papa Bach. How do you create so many beautiful melodies day after day?”

Bach replies, “My diet. Cut out the beef and sauerkraut. Eat more miso soup. Concentrate on green and yellow vegetables. For snacks I recommend fresh carrot juice and gluten-free stollen.”

greg gerke