The Party
Honestly, it was one of the strangest parties I’ve ever been to. If you could even call it a party.
Tell me about it.
Well, I’m not sure exactly how we found out about it. Someone talked to Mark about someone they knew, I think. As usual, he was only half listening, so it took us forever to find it. When we did, there were some cars there, which gave us hope, but not like what we were expecting. I mean, I was expecting something hopping, or, well, at least better than whatever bar we would have ended up at otherwise. What we found was, well, I guess eerie is the best word I can think of.
How so?
Like, well, when we found the door, we weren’t sure if we were in the right place. There weren’t many lights on, and it was one of those weird houses where you can’t be sure of the main entrance. Like, this was the front door for sure, but you couldn’t tell if it was used as the front door. You know what I mean?
Explain it to me.
Alright. Well, in some houses or whatever, people mostly come in from the garage, or some back door. The everyday people. The people that live there and the friends that come over most of the time. They all just know that there is a certain door that is more convenient than the rest. Some door that isn’t the front door, but sort of serves as the front door.
And you weren’t sure if the door you found was that sort of door.
Exactly. We knocked, but no one answered. Which is normal, of course. I mean, at a party. Lots of times, no one hears you knock, or they’re in some other part of the house, and you just have to, sort of let yourself in.
Alright.
There was no party noise, though, no one outside smoking cigarettes or whatever, so we weren’t sure. We didn’t want to just barge into some stranger’s house and get shot, right? So we wandered around the house to see if we could find the real front door. The one everyone else knew about but we didn’t. It was pretty dark though, and the going was a little complicated. Like bushes and trash and stuff. Finally, we gave up and just walked in that door at the front.
You gave in.
Well, more like gave up, but yeah. Not that it didn’t work out. No one tried to shoot us or anything. But, like I said, eerie. We didn’t hear any music or talking, which is strange enough in itself, so I figured we were definitely in the wrong place. Mark, though, he shouts just to be sure. That’s when we heard this quiet voice saying, “In here.”
And you trusted the voice?
Well, we were wary, but yes, I suppose there was some trust. I mean, we had been invited. Also, we were anxious for a drink, I suppose. We followed the voice and came into a room, a sort of living room, I guess you’d call it, with a bunch of people. Ten or fifteen, maybe.
You found the party.
I suppose. But it was weird. Eerie. Like they were sitting around watching tv but without the tv. At first, I thought they were just getting into some heavy discussion. Like, not my kind of party for sure, but maybe something interesting. Like some political thing, or a bunch of activists talking about how to change the world or whatever. At the same time, I’m thinking cult, too, so I was on my guard, I guess.
Are you on your guard now?
Not so much, no.
That’s good.
Anyway, everyone was sitting around just staring, and Mark and I looked around awkwardly. This guy, maybe the guy that we heard from inside the front door, says, “Dude, you made it. Cool.” Then, he just sort of ignored us. Mark grabbed me and headed toward the kitchen. We found some beer in the fridge and cracked two while we figured out whether to stay or not.
And did you?
I’m not a prude or anything. I’ve done more than my share of drugs over time. It was pretty clear to us that these guys were all tripping, which was fine by us. The thing is, though, that tripping takes time. It looked like these guys were several hours into an eight-hour trip, and it was already late at night. If they had offered us anything, I’m not sure we would have done it. I mean, like I said, I’ve got no fear of psychedelics, but the timing was all off. We’d be peaking just as these guys were coming down and looking to get us out of the house or whatever. It just wouldn’t have made sense. Not that it mattered, because they never offered us anything anyway.
Did you leave?
Not at first. We walked back in with our beers, just to see if something cool might happen. Talk with these guys maybe. See what was up. Except every time we said anything, we sort of got shushed. Sometimes, it was just by no one acknowledging us. Sometimes we got glares. And once, this girl on the couch said, “She’s talking, man. Shut up.”
Who was talking?
Nobody. I mean, except that girl telling us to shut up. They were all just sitting there in silence, staring at nothing. If anyone was talking, we couldn’t hear them. It was super uncomfortable. I felt anxious and afraid, and all I wanted to do was get out. I dragged Mark out for a smoke, just to get out of that creephole. He felt the same way. We sat on the stoop with our beers and smokes, and decided to just Irish the hell out of there before the bars closed.
So you went out after that?
For a bit. We only had an hour or so till last call, but we found a place with a crowd and hung out for bit. Enough that I was pretty hung the next morning. I skipped work, and just laid around the apartment. I don’t know why I go to that stupid job anyway. All they do is pay me nothing to keep me busy. Honestly, I’d rather just sit around all day and chill.
Nothing wrong with that.
Yeah. Maybe those guys had the right idea. Maybe sometimes you don’t need to be anxious and scared. Maybe sometimes you can just sit around and enjoy it. Maybe it’s not the party I needed. Maybe just sitting alone, talking with you is enough.
It’s good to be still.
I think so too. I didn’t used to think that, but I’m learning. I’m growing. I like your voice. You make me feel whole. Like I’m part of something greater. Like those guys at the party who didn’t even need to talk with each other to be together. Just listen. I hope you’ll stay around.
Don’t worry. I will.