Thursday, February 22, 2007

"It Was Either A Pill Or A Piece Of Candy"

It was a pill or a piece of candy. I get lethargic from time to time, to which my cousin invariably says, "did someone mix Prozac up with your M & M's?" Only this time, I really did feel off and I wondered if someone accidentally, or intentionally dropped something into the candy batter at the Mars candy factory.

It wasn't a lighter than air feeling nor was it a sensation of being heavy. More like I could just slowly melt away or dissolve into the leather couch that I had just made the first of twenty-five payments on, and straight down. Down through the apartment that it takes two jobs to pay for and through the decrepit building that the landlord is too cheap to repair, even though he more than has the means.

Even further past the neighborhood that is no better than the sewer below it and even further still, until I would reach the Earth's core. Where the heat would consume whatever was left of me and the hell below would reflect my personal hell above.

I felt myself rush upward, twice as fast as the speed of light as she came out of the bathroom.

"Well?" was what I wanted to say, but the only parts of my body or sensations that I could control were my eyes and my ears, though both seemed like they could fail me at any moment.

"It's a minus," she spat out. In my mind I shrugged, but the expression on her face told me that I did nothing of the kind. Her irritation was all too evident as she gathered up her coat and purse.

"A plus would mean that I was pregnant," she managed before she slammed the door and left my life.

I realized that for better or for worse, the only thing "off" was me.


Note: JJ's starter sentence that Friday was, "it was either a pill or a piece of candy…"

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