Chapter 1

Introduction

Chapter 1

I lay in bed, watching some kind of horror movie that Josh brought over. I have sweat beads running down my forehead into my eyes. The burn seemed worse now than it did when I would play tennis with my friends. I could feel the Ambiens kicking in. My brain had idea after idea running through it, but I couldn't get any of the words to come out & make sense. Nothing looked the same. I lie in the dark on my soft bed, it felt like I was floating on my back in the ocean, a very warm ocean. I couldn't tell what I was watching on TV, everything I saw, I saw five of them. I’m tripping hard as s**t....

My name is Ian. Today was a boring day, I sat around all day and had no energy. My friend Josh called me and said he had some sleeping pills that we could take and trip really hard with. So I figured, "What the hell?" Josh came over & we went swimming in my pool that I have. As we got done swimming we sat on the edge of the deck & smoked some cigarettes. I’m a tall boy for being nineteen. I have long brown hair, down about to my shoulders. I dressed nice, polo shirts, tight & nice jeans, & I have a pair of boat shoes that I love. Josh was kind of like my drug buddy. He was normal for his age of 21. Josh had a big, well taken care of beard, but he also dressed nicely, (along the same lines as me). Josh & I sat there & smoked a joint which made my day a little bit more exciting. We then went & got our acoustic guitars.

Josh & I play acoustic guitars & sing. We do it because we love music & we enjoy writing songs & playing them in front of people. Josh & I worked hard on our music, I would say we are doing pretty good too. Josh has a beautiful voice, mine is okay. Josh taught me how to sing when we were little kids. We both learned how to play guitar on our own, it’s not that hard once you get the hang of it. As the sun set & our voices grew tired, we went inside & decided to see what these pills were like.

Josh took the prescription bottle out of his pocket. "You ready for this man?"

I looked at the bottle, it read Ambien CR. "Hell yeah I’m ready man." I really was too, I have never done sleeping pills before but I've heard many things about them from different people growing up.

"Where did you get them?" I asked.

"Well my mom threw them away & once I saw her do that I had to get them."

"Sounds good to me. How many do we take?"

Josh poured some into his hand, "There’s only one way to find out." He put some pills in my hand, I counted five. I looked at his hand & he had five also. We both took the pills & waited. I was really excited for this trip actually. One thing you have to remember about drugs is that they will work better if you don’t anticipate them. So Josh & I played some poker to burn some time & to keep our mind from anticipating it too much. I'm not very good at poker, therefore you can guess that Josh was kicking my a*s. Josh is good at just about everything he does.

"Are you hungry dude?" I asked Josh because I was kind of sick of playing cards.

"Nah, but if you don’t mind I would take some pop."

"You got it bro."

So I walked out to the kitchen & made me a turkey sandwich, & I grabbed a couple cans of pop. It was dark & really quiet in my house, almost to quiet. I'm not scared of the dark, but I'm sure it creeps everyone out a little bit. Wouldn't you agree? I went back into my bedroom & handed Josh his beverage. There is something I also forgot to tell you about myself. I am addicted to Hydrocodons, it is a pain killer that doesn’t really mess you up it just makes you feel good & happy. I took three Hydrocodons then sat down & ate my food. Josh turned on the television & started watching this show about nature. Some educational shows on animals & stuff. The truth is, I love shows like that, I love animals. I used to be vegetarian, but then I just got tired of it, but I still love animals & I think the cruelty of animals is wrong.

As I finished my food & watched TV, I felt them kick in. I couldn't feel my body & everything started to double then triple. I was just lost in thought. I couldn't really talk, every time I tried to say something the words wouldn't come out right & I would forget what I was talking about.

"Do you....uh...." I tried to ask him if they kicked in, but I couldn't really say it clearly.

"Yeah man.....uh....tripping....I feel like I died with that bird on the TV." Josh said just staring at the television, he didn't have any emotion on his face at all, he just sat there & stared with is mouth open.

I found myself doing the same thing, nothing looked familiar at all, I couldn't make out what animals were what, the walls started moving too. I started to get scared. The lights were off & the walls were moving. It felt like there were fifty people in my bedroom, but there was only me & Josh. Josh got up & walked towards the bathroom he was stumbling & holding onto the wall. I felt like I was being watched, like someone was spying on me through the window. So I quickly stumbled out of bed over to the window & shut the curtains.

"Dude do you want to go for a walk?" Josh asked as he walked out of the bathroom.

"Ummm...I guess." I said, not sure if I can walk or not.

"Alright lets go." We walked outside, it was dark & right away I noticed the trees moving & the bushes looked like there was ten of each.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea man....I’m tripping hard as f**k" I said, as I was struggling to stand.

"Calm down Ian, it will make the trip more fun & exciting." Josh said, he also was struggling to walk. So we walked down the road, walking got easier the more we did it. There was still no way that could walk in a straight line, we just kind of swayed back & forth as we walked. I couldn't really make anything out, like I said before it looked like there was ten of everything, I was afraid I was going to walk into something because I couldn't tell which one was real. It was dark & the sky was full of stars...at least I think.

"Man I think we should go lay on that grassy hill." Josh said.

"Sounds good to me." We walked up onto the hill, it was hard & I was tired of walking by the time I got there. Josh & I lay on our backs & looked at the stars. I was laying there listening to the sounds of the wind & an owl far in the distance.

"Ian?" Josh says with a very relaxed, almost sweet sounding tone.

"Yeah Josh?"

"How do you feel man?

"I feel terrific man, I can’t see worth s**t though." I said as I sat up.

"Me too man..." Josh sat up as well, "I think we should head home though man, It’s getting late & I’m tripping hard as s**t."

"Alright, that’s cool."

Josh & I somehow found our way down the grassy, slippery hill. We were walking down the side of the road, which was surrounded by woods. It was pretty much all woods where I lived. We live in the mountains, so as you imagine lots of log houses & country folk. Josh kept on thinking he would see somebody in the woods, but he just realized it probably was just a hallucination. We found our way back to my house, then we stumbled inside. Josh & I were both really tired, so I got him some blankets & a pillow. I found my way to my bed & crashed out immediately. Neither of us said goodnight or anything.