Psychiatry #2 (Fiction)

The butterfly flitters majestically over the dandelions, each flutter pushing one dandelion seed after another into the gentle wind. The luscious leaves scintillate with a tinge of gold from the radiant morning sun, still moist from the morning mist. Cherry blossoms, lilies, freesias and chrysanthemum flowers adorn the luxuriant landscape; spring, summer, autumn and winter coexist in perfect harmony.

There is no trace of imperfection in this land: a picture-perfect land where the most paradoxical of creatures thrive in the same cross section through time and space.

As I lift my fingers to explore this impossibility, a charm of hummingbirds soars through the wispy blue sky, as if to serve a warm welcome to this grand paradise. A nightingale lands on my shoulder and hums a sweet melody, before it takes off, teasing me to follow suit. Without giving it a second thought, I chase it. I’m running as fast as I ever have, defying all laws of gravity, keeping up with the nightingale’s trail. It chirps brightly while somersaulting through the air so freely, so gracefully.

Its brothers and sisters join in the chorus, orchestrating the most enchanting polyphony. Miles of running barefoot is nothing but a small sacrifice for the beauty right in the palm of my hands.

Delilah…

A gust of wind breezes by, echoing my name and vying for my attention, but I continue galloping into the distance alongside my new companions.

Delilah…

It tries again, this time toppling the row of cedar trees behind me, but I’m fixated on the safe haven ahead, where the grass shoots tickle one another for love in the air, where the freesias and chrysanthemum flowers are racing one another to reach for the gum trees, where the mere existence of this land challenges the status quo.  

Delilah… Delilah…

A flash of lightning sets the trees ablaze. It’s desperate, begging for me to stop and look at the unbelonging commotion. I feel the heat on my back, tearing me further away from my refuge, stripping me to the remnants of my sanity.

Delilah!

Everything is burning.

No…

The mountains turn to volcanoes, whose lava now runs freely through this paradise.

No, no, no…

The birds flock away, the once serene animals now left in a state of calamity.

No!

I’m crying, screaming now for one last look at the sanctuary this place once was, but there’s nothing but the weeps of the hummingbird, the whimpers of the nightingales and the roaring flames. And soon, there’s not even a whisk of flame. Just a vacuum of darkness and more darkness, before it snaps to pitch black.  

---

Yellow-green watery muck gushes out my mouth. God, that feels awful. I don't quite catch the next one as a second load colours the pristine monochrome tiles.

Blurry lights, steady murmurs, silhouettes of heads once clasped in their hands, now moving frantically, jumping up and down; a rush of cold hands grabbing onto the sheets.

“You’re alive… you’re alive…” echoes an unfamiliar voice.

“Praise the heavens!” The voice of a male interrupts the beeping heart rate monitor.

A bizarre lady hugs me tightly. I squeeze my arms into my torso and squirm in discomfort.

A butterfly swims above the unmonitored medicinal tray, hovering over a stray vial of fentanyl.

A sigh of relief escapes my pursed lips. All hope's not lost.

Addiction (2022).