We've had a lot of whiskey. Or was it gin? Not that much. A decent
amount. Not too much. Well, we mixed whiskey and cola. No, it was
gin. If you add water to it, it looks the same. Fuck, we had a whole
bottle of it and my folks weren't drinking any. So I get a buncha
tumblers and the bottle of gin. Or was it whiskey? I am worried about
my parents noticing the missing quantities, so I make a note to pour
water in it at the end of the night. Dean, Jamie, Chrissy and I are in
the house I'm staying at, in my room on the bottom floor, near the
front door, so I can get out more easily. And I mix it all.

Jump to our decision to go walking. Jamie isn't feeling too good by
now. I think he's pounded four of those drinks or so. So walking
sounds good. We head over to the park a few blocks away. The NEDs are
asleep. And we play in the kiddy park. There's a large structure
composed of rope and metal. Or was it wood? It resembles a mushroom
and we climb on it. I stay on the ground and spin them. We're all
having fun. Chrissy and Jamie are getting dizzy as Dean and I
supervise them. They're smashed and Dean and I are buzzed. He's had -
- Dean's had -- maybe one and half drinks. And I have had as many as
Jamie.

We're both slightly buzzed and Jamie and Chrissy want to go play on the
obstacle course. It could be for skateboards or roller bladers or
bikers. There are two slanted sheets of metal for a bike to ride up
on. Maybe this is an obstacle course for a BMX, nothing else could fit
on this and everything else is too big. But there's a balancing beam
over there . . . . I really don't know what this is for. But Chrissy
and Jamie are having a grand time jumping on that metal thing and
slipping off. But wait! There's a zigzag assortment of metal guide
rails.

As they play on this I get even more confused as to what this is used
for. Dean is too busy making sure no one breaks their necks. And
there's the metal balancing beam again. I bound over to where they are
and this has become a test of sobriety. But it really turns into a
test of -- who's drunk here? Chrissy goes back to walk more straight
lines. And the decision comes quickly to walk over to the river.

There's an empty bus down the road and intoxicated paranoia floats
through our heads. There's no one it. So there is no reason to worry.
At the river, I don't want to pull anyone out of the icy water.
Chrissy has to take a piss. He tells us this as he is pulling down his
pants. He doesn't want us to watch, so he runs upstream with his pants
still around his ankles and begins to piss. The rest of us need to
piss as well. Dean goes to make sure Chrissy won't fall in and Jamie
and I pick our respective places to relieve ourselves.

Back to the house. Jamie is feeling sick again. And he has to puke.
So Chrissy takes him into the bathroom and takes care of him as I go
upstairs into the Kitchen, where Dean is looking for something to
drink. I decide to make ravioli, as I am hungry and Jamie needs to eat
something, error on my part. Other people are hungry as well. So I
start boiling water and Dean goes to deliver the refreshing wetness in
tumblers I gave him for Jamie.

Ravioli finished and sauced, downstairs again. The colors of the
psuedo lava lamp look good surrounded by the blue shelves and yellow
walls of the room. Jamie is better, tired. And I have eaten ravioli.
I decided he shouldn't have any. But everyone else takes some. The
ravioli is over cooked. And the gin has 90% Water Content By Volume.
The tumblers still sit around my room, with cola and gin. We drink
some more, and go to sleep. But Chrissy wants to exercise on the
portable rowing machine. After a few minutes, we all fall asleep,
including him.

In the morning, soft grey light peeks through the curtains and we all
lie there, awake. Listening to the breathing of everyone else in the
room, wondering if the other is awake. And the night before seems to
be a memory. Perhaps a dream we've all had together.

And we all agree: We should do that again.