2 – Alec Sells Alcohol

I took a job at a firm in a semi-major city called Montanie and got along fine with my coworkers. It paid just enough for rent, utilities, and groceries. Somehow, despite the ease of the work, I was unable to find a purpose in it. Was I just doing this to live a 9-to-5 paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle to forget Balltown?

One evening back in early 2020, I took myself to a local liquor store, Pendleton's, in search of whiskey. I've heard alcohol kills brain cells back when I was little. I figured a good whiskey would kill the ones in my hippocampus that carried the campsite memories. Somehow, I killed more than just the memories of the campsite.

At the place, bright moon-white light bulbs lit up a green-and-cream wall. The lights hummed along to the song on the intercom. "Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain", sung the intercom, "telling me what a fool I'd been."

I rolled a little cart along the aisles, trying to stock up on what I needed. I figured I'd gotten half a dozen bottles of Tennessee whiskey onto the counter by then. It was at that moment the clerk reminded me why I started drinking in the first place.

"You're stocking up for when things go to the dogs, I take it?" The clerk, a middle-aged balding man with a black mustache named Alec, asked me.

"Not really. Just something to get me through the month, really!" I shuddered as I responded to the clerk. With the threats of war and the news of a newly discovered virus in China, I knew exactly what he was talking about.

By the look on his face, I assumed Alec was scowling, or ready to share some grand opportunity. "You know, ma'am, you could really benefit from a whole new change of space." he rang up the fourth bottle. "Let me tell you a story. My sister's got this kid named Zaden. Now, Zaden, they're a freshman taking college classes online, because you know, they've been aching for a gap year but their folks have been aching about education."

I dug through my purse, looking for a way to pay. The song on the crackly overhead changed from "Rhythm of the Rain" to "California Dreamin'". "Wait, really? What are they doing?" I asked Alec.

Alec bent down to get a paper bag for my drinks. "They saw an ad for an island adventure on the cheap, with good airfare and the opportunity to pay the trip fees off, maybe adding a house, later. If you really want an escape, might as well take it before things get worse, 'cause they're going out to a distant island, packin' only their clothes, some snacks from Mommy, and a dream."

I gave Alec my card and dug through my purse again to find my phone. I checked my phone to see if he was right. With a series of new catastrophes popping up, not a lot of people wanted to risk adventuring. With the low price of tickets came eager spring breakers excited to spend their week out in places like Bora Bora. Being at home drunk and forgetting the details of an abhorrent camping trip was pretty much the same as doing the same on an island in distant waters. What did I have to gain or lose?

I walked back home to an apartment I used the hard-earned cash from the 9-5 to pay rent for. The store was right near my building, and the walk was calm for a January evening, with the leaf-covered slush off the sidewalk. I climbed the stairs and walked through the door of my apartment, which overlooked the little city I called home.

I didn't have any idea what I did after I sat down on a floral sofa and browsed YouTube on my TV. Whatever I did later made me heed Alec's words. I just wanted to watch something funny to distract me from what I'd seen a year or so ago. All I remember from that night I got home from the liquor store was an advertisement. This ad had a blue-feathered bird, a raccoon, terrible royalty free 90's music, and WordArt. In the ad, there were some idyllic scenes in what I thought was a nature park. Must have been for Regular Show reruns on Adult Swim, I initially thought before I fell asleep.