Saturday, November 28, 2009

Short Story: "Addicted"


My first published writing was titled, "Addicted". It was written in November 2008 and appeared in the Camden County Press (CCC's Newspaper) in December 2008. The version in the paper is the pre-edited version. I gave them the original draft and the version edited by Alex Wilson and they were suppose to use the edited version, but someone made a mistake. They published the unedited version but still gave Alex credit for editing it. Here is a picture of the story in the paper and the version edited by Alex that was suppose to be published:

Addicted

I am an addict. I guess the first step in dealing with a problem is admitting you have a problem- at least, that's what I hear. I guess it all started when I got a job in a bar downtown. I needed something to get me through those long nights, and long nights they were. I learned it is very time consuming to satisfy a drunk's vehement desire if that desire becomes increasingly vehement with every drink they consume. Many nights I failed. There are simply not enough hours in a day to satisfy such imperious desires. So during those long nights is where it began, my addiction. At first, two or three, maybe four on the most hectic nights, kept me trotting through the endlessness. Then, in seemingly a matter of no time at all, four could not satisfy my own vehement desire. So in attempt to tame this conditioned compulsion I was forced to up the dosage. More. More to keep me functional into the wee-hours of the morning. I could not sleep. I think I first realized a problem had befriended me against my will one morning when I awoke from a rare few hours of sleep with an ache in my head and legs. As strange as it may seem my friend abandoned me when I began again. I was undeniably happier without my friend. Alone. So I began whenever he came to visit. In time, I came to realize that this was a serious problem. So I set out to fix this problem of mine. To find a cure. I began by quitting my job at the bar- where it all began. Without this crud in my system I was a well lubricated machine! For exactly one week and a day. From tick-to-tock I went from confident to anxious, blissful to melancholy, triumphant to defeated, forwards to backwards, right to wrong, in to out, and even A to Z. I was a liar in denial! And so I broke.
A six pack.
A double shot.
A cold one.
A hot one.
A warm one.
A small one.
A big one.
And eventually a really big one.
When I awoke from another rare few hours of sleep, after forty-two sleepless hours, there were nuclear atoms splitting in my head. My legs jaded from their marathon. Addicted, I am. I said to myself, “That’s it. I really need to lay off the caffeine.”

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