Oliver Benjamin
the fashionable drug along with Hugo, Helena and the two American
guys. Tree declined. Belly and Hugo had taken it before, but the rest
of us were new to the famous love drug. Seeing as how I had tried
everything else there was to try on Samrin beach, I found myself very
curious to see how this new poison stacked up. After we gave the
blonde American guy the money, he disappeared for a half an hour
and returned with nine white capsules. We popped the tablets, paid
our bill and went down to the beach.
Tree sat next to me and suggested that when the drug took
effect, I might make good use of it and listen to what it tells me. No
drug, he said, puts anything there that isn’t already there to begin
with.
‘Thanks man,” I said and shook his hand warmly.
“Hey, if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me. If I’m
not at the top of the hill, I’m probably in the jungle, so just call my
name real loud and I’ll be there. Have a great time.” Tree patted me
on the back and stood up. “See you all later!” he said. “Merry X-mas!”
They waved back and tried to persuade him to stay, but he
wouldn’t. I watched him disappear into the distance. How did he get
to this state, I wondered. What was the fuel behind that eerie purple
fire in those cavernous eyes?
Minutes later I was overcome by an unmitigated, irrational
terror. I had fallen into a conscious nightmare and could not pull
myself out of it. I was going to have to go to the hospital. Something
was really, seriously and horrifyingly wrong. Once again, the shock of
a new and foreign substance appeared to be overwhelming me.
“Whoa. This is really bad…” I managed to mutter breathlessly.
“What do you mean Jake?” Helen said, moving closer to me.
Everyone’s eyes were upon me as I started to shiver.
“I don’t know, its just that I…” She put her arm around me and
the others patted my back to comfort me. “I, I feel like…” They looked
at me warmly with the comforting glances of a concerned mother or
a trusted family doctor. Something suddenly and profoundly
changed. I looked up at them with an enormous smile and said, “I…I
really love you guys!” They all moved close and we all hugged each
other, overcome by tsunamis of sensory pleasure. Possibly one of the
most horrible sensations I had ever had to bear had almost instantly
been replaced by one of the most extreme feelings of utter bliss I had
ever thought possible. I could feel torrents of tingling, blinding
rushes tearing through my scalp and flowing down to the base of my
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