A Peculiar Drinking Session

Marie found insanity knocking at her door

 

 

                Marie knew that insanity was on its way that night.

 

                She sat on her bed, clasped her pink floral blanket over her chest and waited for that moment to arrive. She didn’t feel the fabric’s softness anymore. It was just a futile accessory to protect her from the upcoming tragedy.

 

Her usual neatly combed shoulder-length hair was disheveled and her huge eyes seemed to be bulging out of its sockets which quickly looked left and right in anticipation of something to happen. She was the perfect picture of madness.

 

She had gulped down five cans of Red Horse beers to calm her down�"too much for her system perhaps. But that night was different, a different monster was looming just outside her door, waiting to possess her.

 

                Then five minutes before midnight, it knocked.

 

                “You cannot come in!” Marie screamed in fright.

 

                “Why?” a soft voice of a child behind the door asked.

 

                “Because I’m only 28! I’m too young to lose myself!”  

 

                Marie hid her entire body beneath the blanket�"shaking. She exposed her hand to reach for her mobile phone and dialed her best friend’s phone number.

 

                “Hello, Michelle. I told you it would come tonight! Please rescue me here in my room. Please…” Marie pleaded to the person on the other side of the line.

 

                However, it wasn’t her friend’s familiar voice which spoke to her. It was the voice of that child behind the door.

 

                “Please don’t be frightened Marie. It’s not as bad as you think,” the child says.

 

                She screamed as she dropped her phone. She brought down the blanket right below her eyes and she screamed even louder when she saw what was sitting beside her.

 

                It was Insanity. She had the face of a cherubim and the smile of the devil. She looked like a seven-year-old girl who just walked out her own birthday party. The voluminous skirt of her white gown spread through the half of the bed and a tiara neatly accessorized her long curly hair.

 

                “Hi,” it said.

 

                “Please… Don’t take me. Please…” Marie pleaded.

 

                “Don’t be afraid. I am a friend.” Insanity reached for Marie’s face and it was as if her emotion switch was turned off. She was finally calm.

 

                “How did you do that?” Marie calmly asked.

 

                “I told you. I am a friend, and I am magical. I can whisk all your sadness away! Come, let’s have a drink.”

 

                Insanity went to the fridge and took out two cans of beer. Though her hands were small, it firmly held on to the moist cans.

 

                “Here, have some more.” She handed a can to Marie and opened her own can.

 

                “So tell me, why am I here?” Insanity asked her.

 

                Marie looked around her and pointed to the picture frame beside her.

 

                “That’s Jeff and I in our happy moments three years ago. Tonight, he was stupid. He decided to go out with his drinking buddies even if I said ‘no’.”

 

                “That’s it? Quite petty don’t you think?”

 

                Marie alighted from her bed and lay down on the floor.

 

                “This floor is the place where he first told me he loved me. It was the night when we first made love. But he’s changed now. After every storm that we went through together to save this relationship, I have become a non-existent partner. I am now invisible.”

 

                “What a monologue!” Insanity laughed as she gulped down her can. Marie was still doing her invisibility action�"moving her hands in front of her face�"when a knock was heard again on the door.

 

                Insanity stood up to open the door. It was a salesman carrying a pile of encyclopedias and he was drop-dead handsome. His white button-down shirt was neatly pressed and his hair is gelled to perfection.

 

                “Oh, hi! I didn’t know you would come!” Insanity said.

 

                The salesman entered the room and flashed his gorgeous smile at Marie who was still lying on the floor.

 

                She quickly rose to her feet and waved at the gentleman.

 

                “Who is he?” Marie whispered to Insanity.

 

                “Oh, this is Promise. He’s from the other camp and we’re supposed to hate each other, but, surprisingly, we get along just fine.” Insanity answered with a big smile.

 

                Insanity went to the fridge again and took out another can of beer for the new guest.

 

                Marie still kept her eyes on Promise and started to scan his entirety. He had broad shoulders and his skin was perfection. His eyes were watery, as if he would cry anytime. He sat down on the bed next to Marie, stacked his volumes of encyclopedia by his side, and propped Insanity on his lap.

 

                “So Promise, such a nice name, you sell encyclopedias?” Marie asked while trying to hide her giggles.

 

                “As a matter of fact, I’m not selling it! You can read it for free!” Promise answered.

 

                “But who reads such things anymore? We have the internet.” Marie asked.

 

                “Oh Marie, those are not just your ordinary volumes. These books contain facts about truths and lies,” Insanity answered.

 

                “I’m quite confused with your sentence construction Insanity,” Marie commented.

 

                “Well, to explain it further my lovely lady,” Promise began as he kissed the back of Marie’s hand. “These books contained promises that were made. This is the new set for this day,” He tapped the pile of 10 hardbound books beside him.

 

                Marie reached for one of the books and read some of the materials written on it. In it was written:

 

                George Celis promised Michael Reyes that he will love him forever.

                Michelle Garcia promised her mother that she will not take drugs again.

                Gina Alexis promised her boyfriend that she will never go to the casino again.

 

                As Marie read on, she noticed that some of the letters started to come out of the book and popped out as it reached the air.

 

                “What’s happening?” Marie asked.

 

                “As we speak, those promises are broken,” he answered. “At the end of the day, less than half of what was printed remains in my books.”

 

                Marie went back to her reading and saw a very familiar promise:

 

                Jeff Santos promised Marie Del Valle that he will not drink tonight.

 

                “It’s still here! That means Jeff is really not drinking tonight!” Marie beamed with happiness as she touched the fine print in her hands. Filled with relief, she closed the book.

 

                “Let’s toast to that!” Insanity said jubilantly as she raised her can.

 

                They cheered towards the promise made and kept. For the next hour, the threesome just chatted and spoke about their different experiences and the people that they have met. How Promise once made a promise and broke it, how Insanity tried to grow old, and how Marie never wanted to be a typical female.

 

                “I tried to be his ideal partner you know. Following his orders, accepting that I am not invited in his drinking sessions with his buddies, and accepting... anything! Everything!  I was never a typical female until he made me feel that he wanted me to become one,” Marie said.

 

                “Then why are you doing it?” Promised asked her.

 

                “Because I love him,” Marie declared which was followed with a loud laugh.

 

                Then a loud knock was heard on the door. Marie was still indulging in her drunken happiness as the faces of Insanity and Promise went into horror.

               

                Marie noticed that her two new friends were silenced by the knock which grew louder and louder with every thump on the door.

 

                “Why are you so scared? Are there more of you guys coming to our party?” Marie asked as she tried to stand up to open the door. Promise held her back.

 

                Insanity shuddered as she replied: “It’s death.”

 

                “Don’t open the door!” Promise warned her.

 

                The two guests hugged Marie as the knocking grew more and more intense. They enveloped her. They chanted words that she could not understand.

 

                Then the knocking stopped.

 

                Promise and Insanity breathed a sigh of relief as they released Marie from their tight embrace.

 

                But there was a peculiar sound behind the door. It was as if a key was inserted. It was being turned with the knob and the door burst open.

 

                Jeff entered the room and went straight to kiss Marie on the cheeks. He smelled of alcohol.

 

                “Hi Baby,” Jeff said as he kissed her more on the lips.

 

                “Baby, don’t be so impolite with our guests,” Marie said as she pulled away from Jeff. “I’d like you to meet Insanity and Promise. They’re my best friends for tonight.”

 

                Marie pointed to thin air and asked Jeff to shake their hands.

 

 

 

                 

 

               

 

               

 

               

 

                 

 

                 

Reviews

[lucci]

Thank you so much for reviewing SuddenCognito. There's not much purpose in it, it's just catharsis for me--a way to keep my own sanity. :)

[SuddenCognito]

I'm not sure what the purpose of your story is but It had me gripped enough to read through to the end. Also I was somehow satisfied and felt the story was well concluded when I finished reading it. :)