Thrill in the Time of Corona

Chapter 1: Leading towards Thrill

The dark ages have begun it seems. Nobody goes out anymore, to walk, or shop. We are surviving in the times of pandemic, a virus that has taken millions of lives, and is spreading wider than a wildfire. In this atmosphere of negativity, fear, wrath, how does one find a tiny element of motivation? Well, I'm on a verge of finding out, I reckoned, as I packed my rucksack with all clothing & travel essentials. World might have stopped due to COVID, but it was time for me to take an adventure, find a motivation, to work, survive, and offcourse, prosper.

So, I decided to do the most cliché 2020 thing one could do, backpack for laying under the palm branches of Goa. Yeah, I love alcohol to the point I believe I might have been alcoholic, if my hometown wasn't a dry state. But it was time to change all of that. Lie underneath the shade of a shack, looking at the beach, listening to its serene music as he waves come closer, mixing it up with elite liquor at a surprisingly affordable price.

Mixed thoughts conquered my mind, as I went to the airport. I have already once been infected by this vicious disease, but I recovered faster than one could imagine. I wasn't scared it would come bite me again, although, what if it gets a stronger hold over me this time? Welcome to my funeral, I gotta make this one count. I was not sure what I was going to look for in Goa. Excitement began numbing my senses and made me nervous to my core.

Let's do this sorcery, my mind cheered. I boarded the next flight to Goa, and I was received in my favorite city with a bright shining sun, which was rare in other parts of the country at this time of the year, viz, 28th December. The New Year Eve's almost knocking at the door, as I knocked the door of this funky looking hostel I enrolled myself in, ticking off my dream of sleeping at the top bunk, and sharing room with a bunch of strangers.

"Excuse me, I wanted to check-in, my name's Reyansh." I told this hippie looking shirtless guy, who claimed to be the owner of the hostel.

"Check-in's not until 12 pm, its only 10." He responded rudely, like it was my fault the flight boarded early. I convinced him to get me in, and lifted off the heavy rucksack I've been moving around with since the last 1 hour. Yeah, the airport was quite far from this part of the city, the rave's were not.

His girlfriend, the other manager helped me settle in one out of six bunk beds in the shared room. I can see cats moving freely throughout the hostel, walls had trippy psychedelic paintings.

"You want it?" One of the three guys in the room asked, offering an opened beer bottle.

"No, thanks!" I wanted to save space for the Belgian Beer that we could only get here. But, wasn't I here for having as much fun as possible?

"Sure, I'll have it. What's this brand "TST", I've never heard of it?" He handed me the bottle.

"It's a specialty bro. Try and fly." He said, as all of them got up from their beds and headed towards the hostel gate.

Nobody wore masks here, nobody had that fear of Corona. It felt like I am on an island on some other planet, or a parallel universe, where there are no viruses in the air, just loud music, happy cheers and sea breeze.

I freshened up, got ready, and laid down for a bit, was time to scroll through Instagram. To my surprise, almost half of my Instagram seemed to be in Goa. Hence, cliché.

It was time to taste the TST. I took a sip, it felt smoother than watermelon juice and yummier than vanilla ice cream on hot chocolate brownie. It felt like blueberries were used in brewing it. Somehow I was already addicted to it. Bottoms up, commanded my inner conscious, as I gulped all of it in one go.

12 pm, i.e. 10 minutes later, my eyes felt a bit heavier than usual. I could hear someone talking in the other room, and music being played somewhere outside. I could hear the birds chirping from a distance, and a stray god barking at it. My hearing senses distinctly heightened. I played a song on my phone, and my ears craved for maximum volume. I felt drunk as well as high at the same time, is that possible even? My body was moving at every beat, I'm not a dancer, but that morning, I was. I looked at the time, and it was 2 pm. "How did the time move that fast, I just looked at the time like 5 seconds ago, didn't I? I asked myself, immensely bewildered with the unique physical sensation I was experiencing. I closed my eyes, thinking it would help me gain control over this sensation, instead, I went into a trance only to see geometric processions. I was stepping into them one by one with a constant fear of falling down or getting sucked into an eternal black hole. There wasn't a concept of gravity here. My brain began processing everything faster, and better. It seemed like I got an access card to the hidden secure area of my brain, that possesses the genius in me. All of a sudden, I got dropped off from those geometric shapes to imagining real life scenarios. My brain was focusing on displaying my major problems, and helping me find a solution. I felt happy and positive, like I was healed from all my depression, sadness, frustration, guilt, and tons of darkness.

All the relaxation made me feel sleepy. I've been suffering from insomnia the complete lockdown, hence I decided a little nap won't hurt my today's schedule.

I passed out. Atleast I wished I did, exactly at 11 am the next day, I was found drowning and choking up in the middle of the swimming pool.