“You’ve never been good at dealing with stress. Greg.” Says a voice through the darkness.
The faint details of a defeated man, exhausted and strained, can be made out only by the light of a wristwatch that indicates his elevated heart rate.
“For fuck’s sake Jeanie, this can’t be happening!” Greg replies with an erratic desperation. A number of cigarette butts stick out of the mouth of an old Coors Light can as he attempts cramming one more in.
“This is not the way things were supposed to play out!”
“It seems that you set your expectations a little too high.” Jeanie calmly replies through the darkness “You knew that this was a real outcome.”
Slowly digesting the words that were just spoken, Greg polishes of a rather tall amount of amber liquid from a short glass.
A little calmer, but not without a hint of desperation he defends, “Of course I knew this was an outcome, but things were going so well for a while”
“For a while, Greg, but it appears that you’ve fallen back into your same old habits”
“I can only do so much for you, at some point you need to take responsibility.”
Easier said than done!
Greg thinks to himself as he exhales a cloud of smoke. It had been a little over a year since Jeanie came into his life.
What a mess things were before!
His entire adult life he seemed to lack any sort of direction, just lost and wandering with no purpose;
A Lost Boy as he would put it in an attempt to reconcile his actions with the expectations of society. Sure, it was passable and maybe a little romantic to live a sort of “artist lifestyle” in his twenties, but the looming deadline that is turning thirty was fast approaching with nothing to show for himself.
All of these thoughts swirl around in his head as he takes a slow drag.
“I really thought you’d be the one to save me Jeanie.” Greg lets out in a very measured solemn tone along with a cloud of smoke that fills the dark room.
“I gave you all the tools you needed to make you a productive member of society.”
Jeanie calmly replies, “You just have trouble following through with anything.”
“I was there to help you quit drinking…
for
a
time.
“I gave you everything you need to go back to finish your education…but there was always an excuse to put it off.”
“I had other things to focus my time on.” Greg defensively returns “Big things lik- “Impractical things Greg.”
Jeanie calmly interrupts as the light from a screen floods the smoky room, creating an ominous atmosphere.
“Hours writing songs that no one is ever going to care about when you’re either to inebriated or incapacitated to do anything of value with.”
“A very unproductive way to spend your time, just a way to justify doing nothing with your life” The bluntness of Jeanie’s attack leaves Greg defeated and he retreats back into his half-full glass.
“You’ve never been good at dealing with stress. Greg.” Jeanie says in response, “Not to be too forthright, but you are officially a lost cause.”
“A burden onto society.”
“I get it! Just stop!” he snaps.
“So this’s really hows it ends?” he submits as he sloppily guides his glass on top of a dresser and slowly slides open the top drawer.
“I’m afraid so, Greg.” Says Jeanie calmly. At the same time the light from a device screen once again lights up the black room, a small cardboard sleeve can be seen sitting atop a bed of cotton. With one hand on the dresser, Greg peers at the sleeve recalling its arrival earlier that day and him subsequently tossing it in the drawer. An address…
Department of Contribution
410 Terry Ave. North
Seattle, WA
…can be clearly read on the return label before the room turns to black again.
“Hiding it away isn’t going to change anything, Greg” Jeanie says calmly, seemingly reading his mind.
With the room once again illuminated, he reaches into the drawer and quickly snatches up the package. A small cylindrical item can be felt inside the thin cardboard as Greg presses his fingers against it, although he already knows what’s inside; he’s been dreading its arrival for a few days now.
“It’s time Greg, they wont let you put this off any longer” declares Jeanie “You know what the alternative is, this is the easiest way for both you and the state”
After a long, defeated sigh Greg locates a small tab through the glow of a device screen and aggressively pulls it, like ripping off a Band-Aid, creating an opening at the top of the sleeve and quickly discards a small sliver of cardboard onto the floor. Almost on instinct, he dives his hand into the opening and pulls out the small, cylindrical container that he can now feel that it contains a small amount of liquid inside. His heart begins to race again as soon as he feels its contents sloshing around inside the container. He knew what was going to be inside, but feeling the cold glass against his now perspiring hand gives gravity to the reality of the situation.
and he collapses back into his chair.
“Just get it done Greg, take responsibility and see something through for the first time in your life”
He lifts his head and stares forward towards the empty glass sitting on top of the dresser. Calmer now, he pushes himself up out of his chair towards the dresser and grabs the glass and fills it with a very generous pour. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out the container of liquid and carefully removes the cap. After a moment of hesitation, he pours its contents into the glass.
Another moment of pause as he holds the glass up near his lips….
…and gulps it down.
Almost immediately, Greg slips back into his chair and falls into a deep sleep. Within a few moments his wristwatch lights up, reading “unable to read heart rate”. At that moment all traces of life leave the dark room and almost instantaneously the phone sitting on the table lights up. The room illuminates one more time; from a self-improvement app designed to “grant your every wish” a notification appears:
