Line breaks are perspective changes.
Written off of a concept designed by Irvine Welsh,
title from the poem 'When Caesar's Mushroom is in Season' by Paul Reekie.
Written off of a concept designed by Irvine Welsh,
title from the poem 'When Caesar's Mushroom is in Season' by Paul Reekie.
Jimmy wasn’t really the best guy. He had a nasty habit for any gear he could get his hands on, dropped acid like bombs dropped in Berlin, and had a fierce case of alcoholism. He spent most of his time stumbling across the streets of Venice completely trashed. All other time he spent with his steady girlfriend, Lorraine. Lorraine and Jimmy had been together for about two years, and only after Jimmy’s aunt Mildred died did he start to get like this. Lorraine stuck by him and tired to help him the best she could, but it was to no avail. The Jimmy she knew was buried under layers of acid, heroin, and alcohol and it would take professionals to get him back out. Her attempts were shot down by Jimmy’s love affair with vodka and the precious gear he always managed to get his hands on. He drank vodka all day, every day after Mildred’s untimely death. After all, she raised him form age two after his father was sent to prison, and he only left after he was nineteen. She was the only mother he ever had.
Lorraine stuck with Jimmy though. She knew he wouldn’t know where to go or what to do without her. At least she could sort of control his drug abuse. As long as those weren’t there, he was the greatest guy to be around. Even if he was on drugs though, he was still always nice to her. Jimmy tried his hardest to be the best he could be for Lorraine, but the substances weren’t eligible to be given up.
One day, while stumbling through Venice, Jimmy found himself in a field. He was tripping hard, and he felt as if the grass was enveloping him. All of the colors swirled from his head to his toes, and he felt at one with himself. This was the kind of high he was always chasing. In the event of all of this, he failed to notice the lamenting sky. It was jet black and threatening, with streaks of white and purple lightning streaking across its solid surface.
Jimmy never noticed this; he was too infatuated with the swirling hues of green blue and a caring read to care about much else. He continued this until he heard a loud crack of thunder. He looked up at the sky in bewilderment as a bolt of lightning struck him directly through his chest. He convulsed in mid-air and collapsed to a crumpled heap in the middle of the field.
---------------------------------
Troy was a young little boy, teetering on the age of four. He was very quiet most of the time, whining only when he felt the need to eat. He was already potty trained; his parents were quite good at their job. He spent most of his time sleeping. His parents, Annalisa and Ernest, had given up on trying keeping him awake when he should be. They just told the other parents that their little Troy was narcoleptic if they questioned them. It was all good until the preschool teacher referred him to a psychologist.
Ernest and Annalisa were mortified. There wasn’t a thing wrong with Troy, he just slept a lot and refused to have a schedule. Child Welfare would be all over them, again. Last time, Troy threw himself down the stairs after he was sleepwalking. No one believed that his parents didn’t do it, but they eventually won the case due to lack of substantial evidence. His parents were still quite weary of the situation though.
On the way to the psychologist there was a lightning storm. Troy loved storms, so he just stared out of the window the whole time. They stopped at a gas station to refuel and grab some coffee. Right as Troy stepped out of the door a blot of lightning went straight through him. He fell against the car, and slid to the cold hard pavement right there in the parking lot.
Jimmy was rushed into the ICU of the hospital. Lorraine was speeding through traffic as she had just received the physician’s phone call minutes earlier regarding his possible drug overdose.
Jimmy’s wounds were easily treated, he only had a small laceration across his chest, but something was horribly wrong with him. Jimmy wasn’t speaking. He whined and cried occasionally, and just slept. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him; they just couldn’t figure it out. They ran CAT scans and MRI’s but his brain was fine.
---------------------------------
This killed Lorraine. Jimmy was one of the few people she had left. All that she had was her sister, Anne and Bruno the dog. Anne was always concerned about Jimmy. She constantly asked Lorraine how he was doing. She had known about his drug and alcohol abuse. He was always drinking, always.
Lorraine thought that this accident might be an opportunity though, one for change. She was always trying to get Jimmy to stop. Needless to say, he never did. Lorraine would casually slip it into conversation, when he talked about his problems. She’d say, “Well, Jimmy, maybe you’d have a job if you didn’t drink so much.” His response was always, “Lorraine, if I could I would, but I can’t so I won’t. I don’t want to disappoint you, I’m sorry.” Lorraine gave up after about three months of it. It was easier if she just held him and told him that everything would be okay. After all, that’s all she really could do.
Now that the old Jimmy seemed to be gone, she could make a new one. Lorraine could finally get him to propose and stop doing drugs and drinking. Who knows, they might even have kids. This was the only reason she had to keep pushing forward.
Troy’s parents were devastated. They didn’t know how this could happen to their son. This was another thing to explain to child welfare. All that they could do was sit there with him and hope that he would be okay, just hope.
---------------------------------
A few hours after they arrived at the hospital, Ernest had to leave. He figured that Troy would be fine with having just Annalisa there, because it seemed like they hadn’t cut the umbilical cord yet. He had to go to work anyways; the morgue wouldn’t be too happy being short on staff. He gave Annalisa a kiss on the cheek and gave Troy a pat on the head, ruffling his hair a bit, and left.
The doctor came in and said it would be fine for Troy to go home. All of his tests came back fine and he was just sleeping in his hospital bed. His mother picked him up after filling out some paperwork, grabbed his clothes and took a cab home.
After they arrived at the house, Troy was acting strangely; he was talking fluently and was shaking horribly. Troy was just muttering to himself and twitching, curled up in a little ball on the ground. After about ten or so minutes of this, and seeing the horrified expression on his mothers face, he decided to say something. “Well, this is odd.” he said. “Troy…” his Annalisa responded, “are you okay? Do you need something to eat, what’s wrong, where did you learn all of these words?” “Shut up woman!” Troy barked back, “Sop asking me questions and let me finish what I was saying. I believe that this was a freak accident, something phenomenal…”
Annalisa’s eyes widened, she wasn’t expecting this, but them more he talked the more interested she became. There was no backing down from here, if she told anyone even Ernest, she’s be in a psych ward in minutes. “Yes Troy, please do continue?” “Hmpf.” Troy muttered, thinking he could milk this for all it was worth. All of this was another lifetime he could have to use gear again and have his body be fine. He didn’t have to worry about Lorraine getting in his way. He missed her and all, but he’s be better off in the care of this woman who couldn’t do anything except listen to everything that he told her to do. “Well, I think in the event of my accident, I was granted a higher… erm… Enlightened, state of being if you will. All that you can do if give me what I ask and not say anything to anyone. They won’t believe you if you do. Not even that creep Ernest.” “Okay,” Annalisa replied, “I won’t even say anything to him. I swear.” “Good, I don’t like him and I personally do not believe that he is a fit husband for you. Go rifle through his computer. With all of his extra hours that he’s working he’s probably cheating on you.” “Oh dear, I always secretly thought that, but I just thought I was paranoid. I’m going to look right now.”
All was going according to the new Troy’s dark little scheme. Soon enough he’d have Ernest out of the house and all of the money and Annalisa to himself. He could get any gear he wanted, no matter what.
In a matter of months, Ernest was out of the house. It turns out that he was cheating on Annalisa. As he was leaving he patted Troy on the head and told him to be a ‘good little boy’. Troy whipped his head around and bit Ernest’s hand. He jumped back, bewildered, and walked away, with thick crimson blood pouring down his hand.
He never came back.
---------------------------------
It had been a year or two, and everything was going great between Jimmy and Lorraine. Other than teaching him how to speak again, everything was fine. He still had a slight lisp though. Lorraine was so happy with Jimmy; he dressed nice, never drank, and never did any drugs. He smoked organic cigarettes though, but she didn’t mind because he didn’t do any of the other things he used to. He was like a whole new person; well he actually was a brand new person. She just didn’t know that. She was more in love with him than she ever was and it seemed to be the same way for him.
They both decided to take a stroll through the park, it was a brilliant day out but the weather channel said it was going to start raining hard later on so they left while the day was still good.
---------------------------------
It had been a year or two, and everything was just great for Troy and Annalisa. Troy had to be careful about his dosages of whatever drug he got, he found that he could only handle minimal amounts of alcohol and pot. He was only six, so he still had about seven more years until his body could take the damage he was about to deal to it.
Even with only a small amount of time that had passed, Troy’s appearance had changed a great deal. He was getting into fights at school a lot, so Annalisa homeschooled him. His eyes had turned from kind and innocent to demeaning and hateful. Even his body language had changed; everything that he did was aggressive.
Troy and his mother wanted out of the house. They hadn’t gone anywhere in a few days and he needed some more substance to get him through the week, he freaked out if he didn’t have any. They decided that the local park would be the best bet. Sometimes there were a few dealers around there.
---------------------------------
Jimmy and Lorraine were strolling in the park. It was a nice day, but the park was relatively empty. No one was outside because it was going to storm, but Jimmy enjoyed storms so it didn’t matter much.
There were two peculiar people walking towards them. A skinny frizzy haired lady with wire rimmed glasses, and a young boy who looked more like a demon than a child. The lady was scanning the park and, looking as if she was lost, Lorraine asked her, “Excuse me miss, do you need directions?” The lady’s head snapped to face hers, and responded in a shard “No, I know where I’m going.” Lorraine just shrugged it off, and went to keep walking until she saw Jimmy bent over tying his shoe. The little boy went up to Jimmy, and just stared at him. He looked up and into the boys eyes, fear shot right through his bones. The boy’s mother grabbed him and told him to keep walking. Lorraine turned to Jimmy to make sure that he was okay because he was shaking. Jimmy’s eyes were wide open, and sweat was dripping down his forehead. She asked him if he was okay and put a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged off her hand, said he was fine and kept walking. He never turned to look back, and never returned to the park again.
END
Lorraine stuck with Jimmy though. She knew he wouldn’t know where to go or what to do without her. At least she could sort of control his drug abuse. As long as those weren’t there, he was the greatest guy to be around. Even if he was on drugs though, he was still always nice to her. Jimmy tried his hardest to be the best he could be for Lorraine, but the substances weren’t eligible to be given up.
One day, while stumbling through Venice, Jimmy found himself in a field. He was tripping hard, and he felt as if the grass was enveloping him. All of the colors swirled from his head to his toes, and he felt at one with himself. This was the kind of high he was always chasing. In the event of all of this, he failed to notice the lamenting sky. It was jet black and threatening, with streaks of white and purple lightning streaking across its solid surface.
Jimmy never noticed this; he was too infatuated with the swirling hues of green blue and a caring read to care about much else. He continued this until he heard a loud crack of thunder. He looked up at the sky in bewilderment as a bolt of lightning struck him directly through his chest. He convulsed in mid-air and collapsed to a crumpled heap in the middle of the field.
---------------------------------
Troy was a young little boy, teetering on the age of four. He was very quiet most of the time, whining only when he felt the need to eat. He was already potty trained; his parents were quite good at their job. He spent most of his time sleeping. His parents, Annalisa and Ernest, had given up on trying keeping him awake when he should be. They just told the other parents that their little Troy was narcoleptic if they questioned them. It was all good until the preschool teacher referred him to a psychologist.
Ernest and Annalisa were mortified. There wasn’t a thing wrong with Troy, he just slept a lot and refused to have a schedule. Child Welfare would be all over them, again. Last time, Troy threw himself down the stairs after he was sleepwalking. No one believed that his parents didn’t do it, but they eventually won the case due to lack of substantial evidence. His parents were still quite weary of the situation though.
On the way to the psychologist there was a lightning storm. Troy loved storms, so he just stared out of the window the whole time. They stopped at a gas station to refuel and grab some coffee. Right as Troy stepped out of the door a blot of lightning went straight through him. He fell against the car, and slid to the cold hard pavement right there in the parking lot.
Jimmy was rushed into the ICU of the hospital. Lorraine was speeding through traffic as she had just received the physician’s phone call minutes earlier regarding his possible drug overdose.
Jimmy’s wounds were easily treated, he only had a small laceration across his chest, but something was horribly wrong with him. Jimmy wasn’t speaking. He whined and cried occasionally, and just slept. The doctors didn’t know what was wrong with him; they just couldn’t figure it out. They ran CAT scans and MRI’s but his brain was fine.
---------------------------------
This killed Lorraine. Jimmy was one of the few people she had left. All that she had was her sister, Anne and Bruno the dog. Anne was always concerned about Jimmy. She constantly asked Lorraine how he was doing. She had known about his drug and alcohol abuse. He was always drinking, always.
Lorraine thought that this accident might be an opportunity though, one for change. She was always trying to get Jimmy to stop. Needless to say, he never did. Lorraine would casually slip it into conversation, when he talked about his problems. She’d say, “Well, Jimmy, maybe you’d have a job if you didn’t drink so much.” His response was always, “Lorraine, if I could I would, but I can’t so I won’t. I don’t want to disappoint you, I’m sorry.” Lorraine gave up after about three months of it. It was easier if she just held him and told him that everything would be okay. After all, that’s all she really could do.
Now that the old Jimmy seemed to be gone, she could make a new one. Lorraine could finally get him to propose and stop doing drugs and drinking. Who knows, they might even have kids. This was the only reason she had to keep pushing forward.
Troy’s parents were devastated. They didn’t know how this could happen to their son. This was another thing to explain to child welfare. All that they could do was sit there with him and hope that he would be okay, just hope.
---------------------------------
A few hours after they arrived at the hospital, Ernest had to leave. He figured that Troy would be fine with having just Annalisa there, because it seemed like they hadn’t cut the umbilical cord yet. He had to go to work anyways; the morgue wouldn’t be too happy being short on staff. He gave Annalisa a kiss on the cheek and gave Troy a pat on the head, ruffling his hair a bit, and left.
The doctor came in and said it would be fine for Troy to go home. All of his tests came back fine and he was just sleeping in his hospital bed. His mother picked him up after filling out some paperwork, grabbed his clothes and took a cab home.
After they arrived at the house, Troy was acting strangely; he was talking fluently and was shaking horribly. Troy was just muttering to himself and twitching, curled up in a little ball on the ground. After about ten or so minutes of this, and seeing the horrified expression on his mothers face, he decided to say something. “Well, this is odd.” he said. “Troy…” his Annalisa responded, “are you okay? Do you need something to eat, what’s wrong, where did you learn all of these words?” “Shut up woman!” Troy barked back, “Sop asking me questions and let me finish what I was saying. I believe that this was a freak accident, something phenomenal…”
Annalisa’s eyes widened, she wasn’t expecting this, but them more he talked the more interested she became. There was no backing down from here, if she told anyone even Ernest, she’s be in a psych ward in minutes. “Yes Troy, please do continue?” “Hmpf.” Troy muttered, thinking he could milk this for all it was worth. All of this was another lifetime he could have to use gear again and have his body be fine. He didn’t have to worry about Lorraine getting in his way. He missed her and all, but he’s be better off in the care of this woman who couldn’t do anything except listen to everything that he told her to do. “Well, I think in the event of my accident, I was granted a higher… erm… Enlightened, state of being if you will. All that you can do if give me what I ask and not say anything to anyone. They won’t believe you if you do. Not even that creep Ernest.” “Okay,” Annalisa replied, “I won’t even say anything to him. I swear.” “Good, I don’t like him and I personally do not believe that he is a fit husband for you. Go rifle through his computer. With all of his extra hours that he’s working he’s probably cheating on you.” “Oh dear, I always secretly thought that, but I just thought I was paranoid. I’m going to look right now.”
All was going according to the new Troy’s dark little scheme. Soon enough he’d have Ernest out of the house and all of the money and Annalisa to himself. He could get any gear he wanted, no matter what.
In a matter of months, Ernest was out of the house. It turns out that he was cheating on Annalisa. As he was leaving he patted Troy on the head and told him to be a ‘good little boy’. Troy whipped his head around and bit Ernest’s hand. He jumped back, bewildered, and walked away, with thick crimson blood pouring down his hand.
He never came back.
---------------------------------
It had been a year or two, and everything was going great between Jimmy and Lorraine. Other than teaching him how to speak again, everything was fine. He still had a slight lisp though. Lorraine was so happy with Jimmy; he dressed nice, never drank, and never did any drugs. He smoked organic cigarettes though, but she didn’t mind because he didn’t do any of the other things he used to. He was like a whole new person; well he actually was a brand new person. She just didn’t know that. She was more in love with him than she ever was and it seemed to be the same way for him.
They both decided to take a stroll through the park, it was a brilliant day out but the weather channel said it was going to start raining hard later on so they left while the day was still good.
---------------------------------
It had been a year or two, and everything was just great for Troy and Annalisa. Troy had to be careful about his dosages of whatever drug he got, he found that he could only handle minimal amounts of alcohol and pot. He was only six, so he still had about seven more years until his body could take the damage he was about to deal to it.
Even with only a small amount of time that had passed, Troy’s appearance had changed a great deal. He was getting into fights at school a lot, so Annalisa homeschooled him. His eyes had turned from kind and innocent to demeaning and hateful. Even his body language had changed; everything that he did was aggressive.
Troy and his mother wanted out of the house. They hadn’t gone anywhere in a few days and he needed some more substance to get him through the week, he freaked out if he didn’t have any. They decided that the local park would be the best bet. Sometimes there were a few dealers around there.
---------------------------------
Jimmy and Lorraine were strolling in the park. It was a nice day, but the park was relatively empty. No one was outside because it was going to storm, but Jimmy enjoyed storms so it didn’t matter much.
There were two peculiar people walking towards them. A skinny frizzy haired lady with wire rimmed glasses, and a young boy who looked more like a demon than a child. The lady was scanning the park and, looking as if she was lost, Lorraine asked her, “Excuse me miss, do you need directions?” The lady’s head snapped to face hers, and responded in a shard “No, I know where I’m going.” Lorraine just shrugged it off, and went to keep walking until she saw Jimmy bent over tying his shoe. The little boy went up to Jimmy, and just stared at him. He looked up and into the boys eyes, fear shot right through his bones. The boy’s mother grabbed him and told him to keep walking. Lorraine turned to Jimmy to make sure that he was okay because he was shaking. Jimmy’s eyes were wide open, and sweat was dripping down his forehead. She asked him if he was okay and put a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged off her hand, said he was fine and kept walking. He never turned to look back, and never returned to the park again.
END
