Sore Muscles

There is a gap in the overlay between truth and reality where neither exist. This is the only place I feel safe. 

Last night I was in the basement of an old friend's parent's house. I'm not sure why I was there exactly but it seemed as if I lived there. Another man was there with me. He offered me a variety of mood altering substances but only one caught my attention, a small bottle of clear liquor. Upon seeing it I knew exactly what it was. "You can't have that here," I said immediately. "Well then, let's go," he replied. I paced around trying to gather the things that I might need but picked up nothing. He explained to me where he lived which sounded like the distant past. As I turned off the lights I noticed the liquid still sitting on my desk. I could hear it hum a silent song to me through the dark. I picked it up and handed it to him, "You're forgetting something." "Good eye, my friend. We're going to need this." I didn't recognize the man's face until much later but I knew we weren't friends. We boarded the bus outside of a church whose steeple was no taller than most houses in the neighborhood. When I was in high school kids would do donuts in the gravel parking lot. One time they nearly hit the caretaker when he attempted to close the chain link fence in an effort to trap them inside. It's since been paved over. We rode in the back of the bus, other people were scattered on either side. We talked about the neighborhood he lived in and he told me about how it had changed. I felt a small prick in my shoulder as he said, "Our stop is next." I could smell the dropper emptying and my pupils dilating. I was lying in my bed, sweating. I could still feel the sting in my shoulder and heart raced around the darkness. The cat was asleep near my shoulder. He was practically pushing me out the back door. My belt was undone and I couldn't feel my legs. Where we disembarked the bus there was a large play field with a variety of sports games being played. Without any concern for what rules may be in play I walked out through the intersection of three fields, my would-be guide now following me. On the opposite side of the fields cars were lined up in both directions. A man in a silver truck gave me a nod and smiled. I smiled back and waved. "What the hell are you doing?" "Being friendly, what's wrong with that." "He going to circle back and try to pick you up now." Terrified my actions would be misunderstood as a form of consent that can't be revoked I panicked. I reached the road and immediately ran up the stairs of an apartment complex. The hallways were open air and complex. I raced through a labyrinth of concrete, clothes lines and caricatures, each one blending seamlessly into the next. My companion struggled to keep up as I ran between buildings, changing floor any time I encountered a stairwell. "Dude, I thought we were going to my house! I didn't give you that for nothing." That's when I realized what I was running from was already right next to me. The cat and I were both awake now.