BLOG 11 - Gabrielle's Story (Part Four)

Gabrielle’s Story

Part 4 of 4

She turned her television on with the sound down low. An episode of Law and Order played in the background, the snowy picture warbled on the ancient television. She turned on her clock radio which she kept tuned to the classic rock station; “Smoke On The Water” by Deep Purple played, the display blinked twelve.

She made her way into the kitchen. She unpacked her food basket she received earlier in the day: soup, pasta, a bottle of apple juice, a loaf of bread. She discovered a pamphlet for Narcotics Anonymous in-between a box of crackers and a jar of spaghetti sauce - the little extra something from Father Michael, she thought. She stared at the front of the pamphlet for a moment, The letters NA were in a large circle branded on the front, underneath it she read, Welcome to Narcotics anonymous. She opened it and was immediately assaulted by words - lot of them. She tries to read more but she’s never been much good at reading, but tries none the less:

Welcome to Narcotics Anonymous

Welcome to your first NA meeting. NA offers addicts a way to live drug free. If you are not sure you’re an addict, don’t worry about it; just keep coming to our meetings. You will have all the time….

She closed the pamphlet, took another look at the NA logo branded on the cover and then tossed into her overflowing trash can.

Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” began to play. Gabrielle flopped onto her bed and stared at the silent episode of Law and Order for a few minutes while she listened to the song. Eventually, she started to pray but it didn’t last very long before she gave up. She wasn’t in the mood for God tonight. Her eyes eventually shut involuntarily and she fell asleep.

It’s was a restless sleep. She tossed and turned as the radio continued to play. She was awoken by a commercial for a car dealership. An anonymous announcer shouted, “NO CREDIT! BAD CRDIT! WE DON’T CARE! EVERYBODY IS APPROVED!”

She groaned and looked over at the television which was now just static. The lifeless glow of the television engulfed her as she lied in her bed. She closed her eyes again, a song she couldn’t identify began to play. She started to cough again and she knew this time it was going to be bad. She sat up on the edge of her bed and continued to cough until the phlegm rose up into her mouth. She got up, slipped on her flip-flops and made her way to the bathroom.

She knelt on the grimy linoleum in front of the toilet and spat up the phlegm. She tried to focus on the song that came from the radio but it was no use, she couldn’t identify it. She rested her head on the rim of the seat and tired to sleep but the coughing and spitting continued. She thought to herself, What is that song?

She remained that way, passing the time by trying to name the various songs that came onto the radio until eventually, she lost track of time as well as the songs. Again she contemplated prayer but once more chose not to. At some point the coughing stopped and she felt good enough to return to bed.

She flushed the toilet and made her way back to her fold out bed in the middle of the living room. She thought about how she wanted a cigarette and watched the eerie glow from the television for a while as it surround the room. The DJ from the radio spoke of a ticket give away. She looked at the overflowing trash can and the NA pamphlet on top. She walked over, picked it up out of the trash and slide it into the kitchen drawer landing upon another pamphlet that was exactly the same, except for the color of the paper it was printed on (the new one was white while the old one was yellow). She closed the drawer and paused with her hand on it for a moment as if she had thought of something - something she had never thought of before. Then she removed her hand from the drawer and returned to bed.

“More Then a Feeling” by Boston started to play. She lied in the unnatural glow of the television static, before long, her eyes began to shut as she felt another wave of sleep begin to take over. She remained awake just long enough to have heard Boston’s Brad Delp recite, “I close my eyes and she slips away,” before Gabrielle successfully surrendered to sleep for the remainder of the night.

The End