Friday’s Liquid Lunch

Friday’s Liquid Lunch  

By Paul McCann

We only had had a half day to work every third Friday of the month and as usual all of us in the office went for our regular liquid lunch in the pub on the corner beside the traffic lights opposite the Auto City Alley , the biggest new car dealer in the country.

We took turns in buying h drinks that went around until everyone had bought a round of drinks and usually by then we all needed a taxi to get home .

As it was Friday we were all in a happy mood .

On the pool table it was winner stays on so each new challenger paid the price for the balls to drop out from the Shute .

I had just ordered a round of drinks and my name was called for a game of pool . The drinks arrived on two trays and I told the guy with the tray to leave my beer on the table where the pack of cigarettes were sitting and proceeded to break the wrecked-up pool balls for the start of the game .

Two of the balls sank from the break into the pockets and I was off to a flying start and I had a charmed luck run of luck with the balls well placed near different pockets  With only the black to pot to win the game I went in off the lost the game . Returning to the table defeated but feeling robbed , I swallowed down my glass of beer without stopping to take a breath . I lit up a smoke and tried to forget losing the game .   .

I started to get more relaxed and thought I heard someone call my name from the outside garden area so went out to see who it was.

Suddenly things started to look weird and I couldn’t understand what was going on  . Outside there were strange looking plants all around the garden . There were people sitting there who looked like an alien species .

God only knows where they came from .

I walked around and saw these wild coloured birds that made weird noises that started to climb up the these rubber looking tree trunks and as they did seeds fell from the flowers spreading themselves all over the ground and the cocoon shaped seeds where these multi coloured butterflies emerged from and flew away one by one but there were so many of them I couldn’t see the sky . I had no idea what was happening . Two gorillas’ with white coats came towards me and carried me away to their spaceship and placed me on a bed and tied me down with straps .

I tried to pay but I started to grow extremely tired and I blacked out .

I woke up and rubbed my eyes and looked around me . I was in a hospital ward and it seemed like it was early dawn .

The nurse on duty came over.

“Well, there you are as large as life . How are you feeling ?

“ Where’s the gorillas and the spaceship?”

I asked  .

“You mean the one that’s out on the lawn ?”

I looked out the window ,

“Where is it  ?“

She laughed .and with a wink and a grin and a nod of the head she said.

“Fancy a cup of tea?"

 She went over a took tray from the morning tea trolley and brought it to me .

“Thank you “

I said

“Well looks like you had a drink that was spiked with a hallucinogenic drug if that makes any sense to you . You must have experienced some strange thigs yesterday in the pub . The people there rang for an ambulance and went the two paramedics arrived let’s say you were off your right off your tree and in need of some medical intervention .

“You mean somebody put some drugs in my beer ?”

I asked and she replied .

“Well, the police will be in this morning to interview you about yesterday’s activity  So I’m sure they will investigate the incident and hopefully find the person who did this “

“I hope so too ,”

‘When the police have finished speaking with you would you be ok t share the experience with some of our trainee nurses in mental health ?

I said

“Sure , I don’t mind doing that. “

 The police visited later than day and after a chat they tried to assure me that they would put an operation in motion to catch the person who was spiking drinks over the last few weeks . After the police went, I was trying to remember all of the things I had seen under the influence of the drug .

I wrote it all down and when the trainee nurses came, I told them what I had experienced . Thinking that they would never believe me I was wrong .

They even told me stories about some of the things other people had experienced with this new synthetic drug that was on the streets .

I felt a little lucky that I hadn’t experienced some of the things some others had seen and after a few days’ rest, I was discharged .

The end