Toxin Time

I typically don’t drink, however, tonight felt different. I wanted to let my wild side out. I went to the bar for the first time in years… This is where the adventure starts. 

Let's rewind to January 2021. I was somewhat of a hermit if you want to call it that. Covid was in its prime, and I certainly did not want to catch a case if you know what I mean. There wasn’t much I felt I could do at the time other than stay inside and catch up on household chores, but that got boring fast. I quickly started picking up hobbies such as puzzles, binge watching Netflix movies, and reading. Eventually, depression got the best of me. It’s pretty lonely in the heart of a pandemic for an old widower. 

I lost my wife last year, April 17th to be exact. The day started out the same as any other day. We had our morning coffee, I sat at the table and read the paper and she got her bag ready for work. If I had known that morning would be the last time I saw her.. I would have held her tighter. I have so many regrets as a man, a husband. I’ve always been a drinker and Rose never quite approved of that. I tried to be better for her but didn’t hack it until she was gone. I promised her at her funeral I’d quit, I intend to keep that promise.

During covid, the bottle was calling my name louder and louder everyday. I made it a point not to keep any alcohol in the house. I wanted to hold true to my promise to Rose. Two years, two years I have been sober. Lonely nights and that damn bottle still has its ties around me. I come so close to slipping then pull our wedding photo out and cry myself to sleep with it thinking to myself,” Rose, how I wish you could be here with me during this difficult time.” I then feel so selfish for wanting her here during such a dangerous time in my life. But, talking to her makes me feel closer to her, farther from my demons.

Slowly, day by day, I got through. It’s now almost a year after the first shut down, and things are opening back up. I feel somewhat safe to leave my home again. I got my coat, wallet, keys and started walking. OH, yeah, I forgot to mention. I live in Las Vegas. Alcohol is everywhere. 

Anyways, the first thing I see when I leave my house are masks. Everywhere, everyone was wearing masks. I thought maybe that would make it easier. I round the corner and I see a new store, “what’s this?” I’m thinking. The sign read,"Come in and enjoy our refreshing lemonade, play some games, and have some socially distanced fun!” My curiosity got the best of me. 

The new bar seemed cool, even though I had no idea what it was all about. I walk in, I’m greeted by a beautiful woman and she asks me if I’d like a drink. 

“No,thank you. Am I in the right place? Is this the arcade place?” I said.

“ Yes, this is the arcade/bar lounge,” she said.

“ oh, okay uhm…”

“ Is something the matter?” she went on.

“ No it’s just that I haven’t been around alcohol since my wife passed away,” I said.

“ oh, I’m sorry for your loss, sir. But you have this place all wrong.. It isn’t that kind of bar. Look around. You might like what you find,” she explained.

So I did, I walked around looking at everything they had to offer and eventually sat down at a booth. From what I saw, it was a typical carnival themed-arcade-type “bar.” Nothing out of the ordinary like the nice lady made it seem. 

 “Hello there,” I hear.

I look around. I don’t see anyone?

“ HEY! Down here.” 

I’m now panicking and looking everywhere, people are starting to laugh. 

“Sir, you’re embarrassing yourself. Look down!”

I feel a cold sweat form on my forehead and the hair on the back of my neck stand up as I slowly look below the table.

“WOAH,” I scream!

“Why, hello. You finally found me,"said the creature between my legs.

“ Who.. where… "What are you,” I asked, frantically?

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” said the creature.

This place? It’s all in your head.It all started with Covid-19, brother. I bet they told you it was safe to come out of your house didn’t they? Wrong. That’s why everyone is wearing masks. Clearly you are one of the stubborn ones, that’s how you ended up here. Everyone who is exposed, ends up here. You see, Covid is actually a toxin which reacts with the body in the same way drugs do. Like a hallucinogen. You cannot see it, but once you breathe it in, it reacts with your brain. It basically makes your neurons fire rapidly, to put it frankly.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… you’re saying I’m just high right now? No one was ever sick? The government made us all hopped up on drugs,” I exclaimed!

No, that isn’t what I’m saying at all. I’m saying Covid reacts with your brain LIKE drugs do. I’m not saying it is a drug itself. Now listen and stop asking questions!

“Okay” I said, scared.

The reason that covid has made so many people sick and so many people have died from it is because everyone reacts to it differently. When they didn’t listen and stay inside their homes, they were exposed to too high amounts of the toxin and basically poisoned themselves. Those who recovered are now immune to all drugs, toxins, and even have some telepathy capabilities. This brings me back to how you got here. After the pandemic started and the government realized we had a toxin on the loose and what it was doing, this safe haven was created. The sign is made with special lights that are meant to attract the human eye. Pretty smart right? So once you’re in here, the toxin starts to slowly leave your body, you rehydrate, and you meet me. 

“Okay, it’s starting to make a little more sense… but you still haven’t told me who you are” I said.

“You don’t recognize anything about me..that’s okay. You will learn as you go,” they continued.

“You will have to stay here for 2 weeks until the toxin has completely left your system, meanwhile, you can play all the games you want. I will show you where you can stay. Whenever it’s time for you to leave, you’ll have a choice. You can either stay and help keep this place running or you can leave but only with an oxygen tank and go straight home,” they said.

“ I will need time for this all to sink in… if that is okay,” I said.

“That is to be expected, right this way,” they said. 

I laid down and thought for hours and hours, but it seemed like decades to me. I didn’t know if what just happened had been real or not. If it is, at least there is a cure. If it isn’t I’m most likely sick and going to die. Neither seems like a good option. If I stay at least I can help others who stumble in here looking for a good time with the strike of reality when it hits. But, I want to go home to heaven with my beloved Rose….

“Time to make your decision,” I hear.

I open my eyes. “What? I just got here. You said I had two weeks.”

“Two weeks of toxin time is 12 hours human time, you’ve been sleeping for 14 hours now. Time moves faster when the toxin is in effect,” said the creature.

“Okay…. But I don't know what to choose. I want to see my wife..she passed away. I won’t go back to my lonely house without her. I could do good work here but I don’t know that I want to commit to being here forever when it feels like I just got here,” I explained.

The creature smiled a wide,gappy, yellow smile as it started to glow. 

“Wha… what’s happening???”

ZAAAP There’s a beautiful iridescent glow that is brighter than a thousand suns as my Rose walks down the stairs from heaven. 

“Rose…? Is that really you,” I start tearing up.

“ Yes , Jim. You brought me back with your love. Your willingness to sacrifice your life just to be with me. I missed you so much. I’m so sorry I wasn’t honest with you,” she said,crying.

“Honest with me? You knew? You knew this wasn’t a sickness.. But a drug like toxin? You knew what could happen yet you still went to the hospital everyday,” I asked.

“ Jim, I thought there was something I could do. I didn’t tell you the truth and for that I am sorry. However, the truth would have only hurt you and I was sworn to rights not to disclose what was going on. If the word got out it wasn’t a sickness but a toxin we had no true control or cure for, it would cause a mass hysteria we have never seen before. I was trying to help… Just not in the way I told you. Instead of being in the ER running codes and swapping ventilators, I was in the lab trying to find something to neutralize the toxin. I was so close Jim…. That’s when it happened,” she explained.

“ What happened,” I asked.

“ We had a patient with a reaction we hadn't seen yet, they went crazy. They saw me working in the lab and thought I was creating more toxin, not neutralizing it. They broke all test tubes containing the toxin and locked me in the air tight chamber,” she explained.

“Oh honey…I had no idea. I was told you were in a car accident,” I said.

“I know, and that’s okay. You had no way of knowing. The only thing that matters is that we are together now. Maybe we can put our minds together and figure out a way to beat this toxin,” she said.

“ Yes, but for now, let's go home,”I said with love in my heart.