The first sensation was a tingle
A very subtle burning. The kind of sensation you get with a chemical burn. It happened on the front of my tongue, just above where I placed the piece of paper with the Kool Aid man on it. They told me to let it sit for a while and then just swallow the paper. I probably let it sit too long, longer than necessary.
I didn't feel anything for the longest time. Then I felt it coming on very, very slowly. It probably took about 90 minutes or more for the chemical to really get into me and take hold, and even still I hardly noticed.
The first time I realized it was affecting my behavior, was when the humor set in. A snicker became a chuckle. Chuckles became a laugh. Laughs became hysterics and eventually as the evening went on, there was nearly no middle ground. Everything that was the least bit funny, was hysterical.
That's when the darkness set in. It felt like I had discovered it by mistake. I had to use the restroom. When I got there the light was off, and I closed the door behind me. For just a moment I felt as if I was in the darkest place I had ever been. I turned the light on almost instinctively and quickly realized I was much happier in the dark. That moment hooked me. It felt like home. I was overcome with so much joy that it brought me to tears which were quickly followed by laughter.
When the time came for me to leave the restroom I was disappointed. I hastily went to my bedroom and I cleared my bed of blanks and laundry. I kept saying to myself aloud “I need the dark, I need the dark”. I turned the light off and crawled into my bed. It felt like sinking into cool sand. But it wasn't dark enough. The faint glow of lights from my computer equipment seemed to be lighting up the entire area. I got up and covered every source of light in the room and quickly returned to the cool sensation of the sand.
And then I saw the face peering at me as I looked over the edge of the bed. Deep, deep down in the blackness of the dark – an infinite pool of darkness. It was sinister in appearance but welcoming, almost indistinguishable from its surroundings if not for subtle wisps of power defining its features. It beckoned to me.
Our relationship was as fragile as the darkness. Both of which were quickly destroyed by the little bit of light that was let into the room when my wife entered. The darkness had been broken, and so too the face, which faded into the ether.