HOOKED-UNPLUGGED

 

  Looking out the window of his room at the rehabilitation centre where his wife put him, he didn’t see the neatly trimmed bushes or the canaries in the trees, he didn’t hear them either, didn’t hear the other patients cry out and curse and beg for just a taste, he didn’t see the blue clouds and definitely not the world; all he could see outside the window was the past one year of his life playing itself out like a movie. He could see himself when he was just a normal person with a loving family, then he could see the day Ben introduced him to crystal meth, he could see himself wanting more of it, he could hear Don singing, he could hear the voice, he could see himself stealing from his office, he could hear himself lying to his wife and son, he could see Shirley on the hospital bed, he could hear Ben trying to help him out of the drug, he heard the door slam when he walked him out of the house, he could see all the places in the house where he hid his stash, he could see the alley where he fell unconscious after taking too much of the drug, he could remember waking up to find that all his things were stolen except his shirt, shorts and shoes; he could see it all and he regretted it to pieces. He wanted to go back, start over for he knew that if he ever got that chance, he probably would have skipped work that day or better still, tell Ben off. He would do it differently; he would not end up where he was today. The shame he saw on Damien’s face tore him to shreds, the sight of Shirley trying to hold on to him while her mother took her away broke what man was left in him.

                                                                                    The end...

Tom got it easy. His end is similar to some of the many addicts on our streets today but entirely different from those addicts who passed out and never woke up after “hitting it hard” one silly night. One thing is certain about drugs, alcohol etc, and it is that it can and usually does mess up one’s life. There is NO NEED getting involved in it and THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY OUT even though you are caught in its web. Stay clean, CHOOSE LIFE.