The October Amaryllis

Chapter 71 - May 23rd, 2020 10:56 A.M.

I woke up feeling poisoned, my heart was pounding, and my vision got all blurry whenever I tried to read anything. I would become farsighted anytime I focused on an object's details. Besides my physical symptoms, my ceiling was flipping out, and chunks of it broke off, falling inches away from me. Oh, and of course, spiders had to come out of the holes. I saw an army of spiders gather in a single file line and crawl through the air towards me.

"Please just go away," I pleaded quietly, hoping the hallucinations would understand my pain as crazy as that sounds. The spiders didn't give a damn, though; they just kept on coming and eventually reached my bed. I slapped the freaks away countless times, but they just came back stronger than ever. Battling the spiders was like fighting a hydra; fifty would show up in their place for the ten that I slapped away. I got so tired of swatting them away after a few minutes that I simply gave up and let the suckers crawl all over me. Wherever they crawled, intense itchiness in the area soon followed.

I'm not sure how long it was before the spiders disappeared, but it felt like hours. Even with them gone, I felt a tremendous sense of paranoia that made me look out the window every two seconds to ensure I wasn't being persecuted. I started deluding myself that the FBI was after me, and the highly realistic auditory hallucinations did not help matters. I heard tinny voices coming from their walkie-talkies, and it almost sounded as if they were underwater.

So this is what insanity feels like...

Out of nowhere, my phone rang, startling me. I debated whether to answer it because it could have been a hallucination for all I knew. I took a risk and answered it. It pleasantly surprised me that Analee was on the other line. If you're asking why it took so long to figure out that it was her, remember, I couldn't read text for shit.

"Analee, I miss you so much," I croaked out.

"Clive, are you alright? Your voice is so quiet and hoarse," she asked concernedly.

"I'm sick with laryngitis," I lied.

"Oh... I wanted to ask if you wanted to meet up today, but I guess you're not feeling up to it..." she said in a crushed tone.

"Analee, I'm always down for meeting up. You know what's my favorite thing about you?" I asked without realizing it.

"I can't say that I do. What is it?" I could feel her curiosity through my screen.

"Your kindness, I mean you see so much good in the world. It's difficult to love humanity when it destroys everything. How do you love people who could care less about you?"

"Well, there's this song I listen to when I get down. It's called Most People Are Good, and it's by Luke Bryan. It reminds me that the world isn't as bad as the news makes it out to be. It's like you watch the news, and it's always about some mass shooting. Seeing that all the time really weighs you down, you know?"

"Oh, trust me, I know..." I replied with a pained chuckle.

"So when and where do you want to meet?" she asked.

"I could probably do 12 at Kerry Park. You're by that area, right?" I asked with a loud yawn. No matter how much sleep I get, I am eternally tired.

"That's right. I'll see you soon. Stay safe, Clive," she cheerfully replied.

I did the dumbest thing right before hanging up; I accidentally told her I loved her. I felt like such a moron that I genuinely considered snapping my phone in half. Then something unexpected happened. I received a text from her, saying the last words I expected to hear.

"I love you too."