Hanging Around In The Pyrenees

Hanging aroundEverything looked strange to the man as he stumbled towards the trees. His head felt woolly and the ground beneath his feet seemed cushioned, as if he was walking on cotton wool. The man was unsure of where he was, or for that matter, where he'd been. He hadn't drunk much alcohol but the pills he'd ingested were undoubtedly the cause of his confusion. The landscape looked as if it were melting, stretching and bending surreally, like a Dali painting. The ladder in front of him was leaning against a sweet chestnut tree, its rungs and sides twisted and rippled like snakes writhing. The nut cases attached to the branches of the tree, were spiky like hedgehogs and, as he tried to focus on them, he believed they were hedgehogs, so he was extra careful not to touch their spines. Under the influence of the mind-altering drugs, they'd become alive to him, and he wondered how the creatures had managed to climb up the steep trunk of the tree. The man gripped the sides of the ladder and with faltering steps, he began to ascend. The voice in his head kept talking, instructing him, and he felt compelled to obey. On reaching the top of the ladder he eyed the loop of stout rope which hung from a thick branch and reached out for it. He liked the feel of the noose in his hands. It reminded him of a braid of hair. He rubbed it gently against his cheek imagining it belonged to a beautiful girl. In this dreamlike state the beautiful girl wanted him to caress her, he could picture her willowy frame, feel her skin, smell her perfume. He inhaled deeply and felt a familiar stirring in his loins. Now he could hear her voice urging him on, telling him what to do. Carefully, he drew the noose over his head and tightened it around his neck, wobbling slightly on the ladder from the exertion. Then he looked up, marvelling at the myriad of sparkling diamonds dancing across the black, night sky. The voice in his head kept talking, but he could no longer concentrate, he was tired now and he just wanted to lie down on his bed and go to sleep. For a split second the world stood still then he tumbled, dropping, before a sudden, sickening jolt halted his fall. The last thing he heard was a loud c***k as his neck broke. Then, the only sounds in the night were from the cicadas, rubbing their legs together in a macabre applause, and the creak of the trees in the cool night breeze.