Mystical Mezcal

He woke to find the sun beating down on his body. He felt strange. Prickly heat. He tried to move. Why was his head thick and his body solid. What had happened. He looked about and saw the bottle. In the distance he thought he saw Gibbs.

****

The morning sun shone through his body. The last dregs of the alcohol evaporating in the light. He had to get into the shade. As he lay in the sand he wondered how he had come to be here. He thought he saw Mike starting to stand up. He tried to shout but all he got was a mouthful of sand.

****

He looked about, the world was strange. No he was strange. He looked for his partner. He was nowhere to be seem. The worm, he had done it again, wandered off. He always did that when things got bad. And this time it was worse than bad, it was awful. He looked about the desert, the Indians were going about their business.

****

Wow, he felt good. Yes it was good to be alive. The alcohol content over the years had taken its toll. No, pickled. No, he wasn’t but he had lost his bottle, and his partner. Oh yes he, that would be the partner, had a lot to answer for. He dug his feet into the sand and tried to stand up. Yep, he could now and again stand up, straight.

****

The (s)lime ball lay in the corner. It had been another eventful evening. It had drunk too much again, and the alcohol and the sun was drying it out. It watched the four. It wasn’t his fault it was the worms. Which had crawled away again.. He felt rotten his body sucked dry. The dust caught what moisture he had left. The skin beginning to shrivel in the sun.

****

The gentle desert wind blew across his body, something to do with a desert storm. He started to roll towards the shade. He kept rolling until he touched the plant. He saw the worm beginning it’s long journey up the plant. It stopped at one of the leaves and sunk its teeth into the succulent flesh. He thought he heard the plant cry out. And quiver.

****

The two men strolled over to the cantina, the younger of the two sat on a chair, while the older went inside, he returned carrying a couple of bottles. He handed one to the other man and sat down beside.

****

Last night the Indians had celebrated the start of the full solar eclipse with a party to their gods. There had been much drinking and dancing. Somehow, somewhere along the way, the world had changed. People had changed. No things had changed. The only way back now was forward. The Shaman started to chant, the sky got darker and then the blackness. The birds fell silent, the air cooled. It lasted what seemed hours, although it had only been minutes. They all watched as the moon covered the sun. The solitaire began to appear and then the light return. The birds began to sing again.

Gibbs turned to Mike and said “You never did tell me why you asked me down?”

“Roof needs fixin’ Probie, and thought you might like to see this.” Mike replied taking a slug of beer, and looking over the desert, before back to Gibbs. “Hey Probie you been lying down in the sand, as you got dirt on you face.”

Gibbs took his hand and wiped the sweat and sand from his stubble. He looked at Franks’ arm. A neat little bite had appeared.

“You been bitten by something?” he asked pointing to the round red ring.

“Hell Probie, I don’t know but I feel I lost a night somewhere and had a real weird dream.”

From where they sat, they looked out over the desert. The wind began to pick up the sand into little devils. The bottle lay under the plant, where it had rolled. Gibbs squinted and stared, he thought he saw the worm wave………………… Yep it had been a funny old night.