Permanent Trip

Chapter 1: The Library

I'm an avid drug user. My name is Garrett Scott. I've been an avid drug user since I was about 19. I started off slow with marijuana and the occasional psilocybin. I worked my way up to nitrous and tabs. From that fateful day when I was 22 and said "To Hell with it", and took a puff on that candy pipe, I never went back. Helluva drug. Today, I am a 33 year old thin caucasian and in a constant state of disarray. I generally have no clue what is what. I can barely concentrate on keeping myself alive and often have to rely on the kindness of strangers to keep myself in a somewhat state of consciousness. What little energy I have is all put toward my junkie tendencies.

I woke up behind the dumpster behind Denny's. I had just been on his most recent bender of one of my favorite mixes. Alcohol and crystal meth. My buddy had found some lysergic acid and it had been quite the three days. I had this constant notion throughout this severe trip of small beetles crawling in my shoes. What little sanity I had left kept repeating that in my mind. "Little beetles", I muttered, my greasy black hair wiping against my face. I supposed it was time for breakfast and dove in the dumpster to see what bits of food I could scrounge. Then I would see if there was anybody around who had anything. I knew my priorities.

I had a few friends whom I was fond of. All of them were of the same mentality of myself. My favorite chum was a skinny fair skinned Italian man named Robert. Robert and myself met about five years ago at the same homeless shelter. Robert was fighting with one of the staff over why he had to change his pants full of his own feces in order to be let into the shelter. Ever since then. Robert and I had been fast friends. Robert's usual hangout spots consisted of the public library when they were willing to put up with him (which wasn't often), or any fast food place when he had enough coins to afford a coffee and sip away at that until they forced him to leave. I decided that he would check the library first.

The library was an average two floor building that had been there since my quaint town of Nettleson was built in 1910. The building had gone through reconstruction a few times but it was still a quite sound structure and most popularly used as a daycare for the homeless population. The librarians had the same attitude towards myself as they did Robert. The local drug user population was not known for their ability to be of sound mind in public areas. Unfortunately, I was certainly included in that quota. The librarians generally were willing to let anyone hang around throughout the day as long as they were respectful. This was going to depend on Robert's current state.

I went up to the third floor, which was Robert's and my usual gathering area. I didn't spot Robert after a quick stroll through the aisles of literature. I did the same for the second and first floor. I decided to use the restroom and then check elsewhere in town. If all else failed, I could scrounge for coins and purchase some cheap vodka, my go-to when in need. I entered the stall. My vision started to blur. I felt that my recent binge wasn't quite over yet. My mind screamed "LITTLE BEETLES!!!", and suddenly I saw his friend. My friend was facedown in the toilet bowl. The toilet bowl was full of little beetles crawling and writhing. The beetles stormed through my friend's thick, dandruff filled hair, as if braving a snow storm. My friend's body flopped off the toilet bowl and as suddenly as the body fell every possible orifice exploded with beatles. I ran out of the restroom and out the library, my head feeling like it would split open. Ten minutes later another gentleman entered the restroom and if I had still been in the library I would've heard an ear-splitting scream no man should be capable of.