wonderflonium tonight
31 January 2011 at 5:48 pm (Daily Stories)
Last night Jessica had taken too much wonderflonium, and today she wanted to sing.
Bright-eyed and vibrating with energy, she bounded up the steps to her classroom and stood in the doorway, poised with eagerness. “Amazing!” a classmate said. “Are you on drugs?”
But to her vitamin-fueled mind, even that sounded like a compliment. Beaming, she kissed the amazed boy once on each cheek before sliding into her seat, all attention.
After school ended, she threw herself into work with such verve that her coworkers all stared in amazement. No way, they whispered behind their hands. It was unnatural.
That night she couldn’t sleep. The effects of the wonderflonium were finally beginning to wear off, and she tossed and turned restlessly. At last, after two hours of staring at her ceiling, she got up and went to the bathroom.
By her sink stood a little brown bottle, half full of pills. Jessica poured two out into her hand. They looked like pale blue buttons. “Just for tonight,” she promised herself. “I’ll quit tomorrow, I swear.” Tilting her head back, she swallowed.
Immediately, a sense of calm spread through her. She went back to bed and slept deeply.
The next morning, she awoke so full of energy she wanted to sing.
