Critique my story, "Why Charlie Chaplin Brought a Skull to a Bistro in Paris"

**TL;DR**: This is a story I thought of on the spot and wrote over the course of 4 hours. I don't consider it done, but I want to run it by the community and see what I should revise. <br><br>---<br><br>**Why Charlie Chaplin Brought a Skull to a Bistro in Paris**<br><br>Paris, 1940. <br><br>The sun is setting, but the city is already shrouded in darkness. Charlie Chaplin sits at a crowded cafe with a skull resting on the windowsill in front of him. The bistro is filled to the brim with refugees and immigrants that have fled into the city to avoid the war. Charlie sits alone at a small table by the glass window, smoking a cigarette and drinking a weak coffee. <br><br>His eyes wander to a woman across the street. She is a young woman with auburn hair and bright green eyes. The few gold coins she has are spread out in front of her on a dirty rag, glinting weakly in the fading light. She looks up and meets Charlie’s eyes briefly. She smiles and waves, and Charlie tips his cap in return. <br><br>Charlie looks away from the window and up to the man sitting across from him. Charlie had not seen the man arrive, but he was not surprised. He had been expecting this man all day. <br><br>“Adolf, I didn’t think that you would show up. Not today, at least.” <br><br>Adolf leaned back into his chair, straightening his suit. He adjusted his tie, and wiped a small speck of lint from his shoulder. <br><br>“I wouldn’t want to disappoint you, Charlie.” Adolf said. <br><br>Charlie rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache. <br><br>“Why are you here?” <br><br>Adolf sighed. “You know why I’m here, Charlie. I’m here for the skull.” <br><br>Charlie looked to the skull on the windowsill. He had never told anyone that he found the skull in the sewers of Paris, nor that he believed it was the skull of a man who had died centuries ago. <br><br>“I won’t give it to you, Adolf. Not today, not tomorrow. I’ll die before I let you have it.” <br><br>Charlie had never liked death. He hated the idea that one day he would be nothing more than a memory to most people. He hated the idea that one day the things he had done, the things he had said, the things he had loved, would be nothing more than words in a book. <br><br>But Charlie knew that he had to die before he let Adolf have the skull. Adolf was a power hungry man, a man who sought not only to conquer the world, but to destroy it. <br><br>“Very well, Charlie. I will leave you alone. You have won this little game, but I will be back, and I will take the skull from you.” <br><br>Charlie smiled. <br><br>“I’m looking forward to it, Adolf.” <br><br>Adolf stormed out of the bistro, leaving Charlie alone in the sea of strangers. Charlie picked up the skull and held it in his lap, turning it over in his hands. <br><br>“I’m afraid that I am a gracious loser.” A voice said from behind Charlie. <br><br>Charlie turned to see Joseph Goebbels standing behind him. Charlie groaned. <br><br>“You won’t win me over that easily, Joe. I’m not the sentimental fool that you mistake me for.” <br><br>Joseph smiled, revealing yellow, crooked teeth. <br><br>“I am not here to win you over, Charlie. I am here to take the skull.” <br><br>Charlie tightened his grip on the skull and slid out of the booth. <br><br>“I’m afraid that is not happening, Joe.” <br><br>Joseph sighed, looking at the ground. <br><br>“Charlie, I-” <br><br>Charlie cut him off. <br><br>“I know how much you hate the Hitler, Joe. I know how much you despise the very idea that the man has become. I know that you are not happy to be standing here, taking the skull from me. But I also know that you will. And that’s why I have one question for you.” Charlie paused. “What do you see when you look at me, Joe?” <br><br>Joseph looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly. <br><br>“I see a foolish man, Charlie. A man so blinded by his inability to grow up that he thinks that he can resist the greatest nation the world has ever known.” <br><br>Charlie chuckled. <br><br>“You don’t see that, Joe. And you know you don’t.” <br><br>Joseph leaned in close. <br><br>“What am I looking at, Charlie?” <br><br>Charlie smiled. <br><br>“You are looking at a man with a skull. And that is all you will ever see.” <br><br>Charlie raised the skull above his head and brought it down, shattering it against the floor. The cafe erupted into a cacophony of screams and gasps. Joseph let out a horrified shriek. Charlie turned to him, laughing. <br><br>“You should have seen your face, Joe.” <br><br>Joseph stomped his foot. Charlie turned and walked out of the bistro, leaving the shards of the skull on the floor. <br><br>When he reached the street, the woman from across the street ran to him. She threw her arms around Charlie and kissed him. <br><br>“I knew you would do it.” She said, turning her head to look Charlie in the eye. <br><br>Charlie leaned in close. <br><br>“I knew that I had to.” <br><br>The woman smiled. <br><br>“I know that you have to leave. But you can stay here if you want.” <br><br>Charlie chuckled. <br><br>“I’m afraid that I am a gracious loser.” <br><br>The woman smiled again. <br><br>“Will we ever see each other again?” <br><br>Charlie smiled back. <br><br>“I’m afraid not.” <br><br>The woman nodded. <br><br>“I knew that you would say that.” <br><br>Charlie turned and walked away from the bistro, out into the night. <br><br>---<br><br>**Edit**: I should note that this is not a historically accurate portrayal. In no time in history were Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Goebbels, and Adolf Hitler in Paris at the same time.