A Rush of Blood to the Head

Chapter 13

Chris woke up to the sound of birds chirping. He opened his eyes to see the clear blue sky, almost as blue as his eyes. 

He felt as if he was in heaven. 

The peace, the beauty of the place was overwhelming. It took Chris, some time to regain composure. The last thing he remembered was taking the sleeping pills. 

Could it be...Could it be that heaven exists?

He sat up and looked around. He was sitting in the heart of a grassland. There were trees all around. Most of them were cherry-blossoms. Chris enjoyed the view. Cherry-blossoms were his favourite. There were peach and apple trees as well as some strawberry shrubs. The grassland extended in every direction. Chris felt that it did not have any end. 

He stood up.

A group of doves flew past Chris and sat on a tree. They looked so beautiful. Chris had read somewhere, that doves are angels that signify peace, love and purity. 

I wanna live here forever.

He savoured the view. One does not simply stumble upon a place as beautiful as this. That too he didn't even remember how he got here. He decided to walk around.

I must be dead or something.

One of the doves, possibly the most beautiful one, started flying. Chris looked at the creature with awe. He was sure that it was a female dove. A male one does not just get as beautiful as this. The dove sat on a branch near to Chris and cooed, almost as if asking him to follow her. Chris gaped at it in awe for a while, but then decided to go wherever it did.

I am coming, dove.

Then almost as if the bird could hear Chris' thoughts, it started flying. Chris ran after it. 

Wow...you sure are fast.

Chris felt no fatigue even though he had been running for quite some time. He didn't even realise that the bird had led him towards a road. 

Hey...slow down, dove...

The dove soared upwards. Till it was just a spot in the beautiful blue sky. Chris stopped.

I feel abandoned...

"Abandoned?", a chill ran down Chris' spine when he heard the voice. He heard footsteps walking towards him. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Face me, Chris..."

Chris turned round. And there was she... standing straight, and looking at Chris, with her stunning green eyes. Her gaze could see right through his soul, Chris felt. He opened his mouth but no words came out. She was dressed in a white suit, with a golden lining. On her right hand she held a bottle of sleeping pills. A dove sat on her left shoulder. It was the same dove which led Chris there.

"No words, lad? Speechless?", she asked.

Chris nodded his head.

The sunlight made her eyes shine brighter. 

"But...But...", Chris stammered.

"Really...You are that confused?", she asked.

"But... Max... you..."

"I welcome you...to your mind lad, to your brain...", Max said.

"But..."

"No you aren't dead...yet..."

"But..."

"I live here...Beautiful place isn't it?"

Chris stood still.

I am in my MIND? What the fuck? What?

"Yes you are...", Max replied.

"But how...."

"Easy...The sleeping pills combined with all that vodka and those narcotic pain killers gives rise to hallucinations...So basically you are hallucinating while asleep...Dream hallucinating..."

"Uh..."

"Yeah...I asked you to take three and a half pills, so that I have enough time to tour you, your mind before you...you know..."

"Er..."

"Three pills won't kill you....The extra half pill you've taken would decide your fate. So I decided to take this opportunity to make you reconsider your decision..."

"What? Reconsider my decision of dying?"

"Yeah...That's where the half pill comes in... If, after the tour, you decide to die...Then I would do no change...But if you decide to live then," Max run a hand through her hair, "Then I would destroy the half pill"

"Whoa..you can do that?"

"I am your subconscious...I can do anything..."

Chris stood there for a while trying to grasp what was happening. The dove cooed. Max smiled.

Is the dove ridiculing me or what?

"Yes...she thinks you are way too slow..."

"Great...my subconscious thinks I am slow..."

"Don't worry..."

Chris smiled. 

"So shall we...", Max said.

"Okay..."

Max started walking down the road. Chris followed her.

The scenery started to change. The grassland turned into a concrete pavement. All the trees disappeared. The sky looked just as blue, but there were clouds all over. The place looked very familiar to Chris. He looked around. 

Oh my god...is that...oh my...

Chris had just seen an old house. What made him gasp for air was the woman standing at it's doorstep.

"It's...It's...It's Jonny's mother", Chris blurted out.

"Yep", Max smiled.

"But she looks so young..."

Just then a car pulled over in the driveway. And two little boys came out. They couldn't be older than ten.

"Is that, Jonny?"

"Yeah"

Chris looked at the scene in awe, while an older man came out of the car. By this time Jonny had run over and hugged his mom. 

"Mom, I caught a fish today...", he said.

"Ooh, that is so nice Jon, did your brother help you?", his mom asked

"NO..I did it all by myself..."

"Yeah he's telling the truth", the older man replied, smiling.

That must be Jonny's grandpa...

They all went into the house.

Chris didn't move, "But how did this even...."

"I know, you weren't there when it happened...your mind couldn't have seen it...But Jonny did tell you about that fishing trip he went to with his grandpa and had caught a trout...So your mind made a situation based on that story", Max explained.

Chris smiled.

"That was just a warm up, lad...We got loads to tour...So hurry up", Max started walking.

Chris followed. He was still trying to understand what had just happened.

Jonny?....That was Jonny?

Everything felt so real. He could swear that it wasn't a dream or a hallucination, had he not known. 

This is gonna be one hell of a tour...