The Plant Beast

17^th November 2000

I recently had a consciousness-altering experience—at least I believe it was recent.  I cannot be sure that I am writing at this very moment. I cannot even be sure that I am present in my normal reality.  Appearance justifies no reliable reality at this point in time.  All of existence may now be fallacious or merely fragmented figments of my imagination.  Is it possible that someone other than myself has also experienced such a paralytic experience?  If so I may not be considered ‘insane.’  If not I will likely be castigated for dreaming such bizarre dreams—the masses thrive upon ignorance.  I am no longer sure where my mind lies.  Now my pen shall purge miserable abominations: the horrors causing the demise of my ‘sanity,’ intoxicating my anemic soul, and permeating my un-consciousness with deplorable pleasure.

I walked outside into the crisp, fall air and discerned the sublime, unearthliness of the day.  I decided to take a stroll into the hills surrounding my home.  As I walked I stepped on a patch of unidentifiable weeds.  I had not realized until I glanced back over my tracks that those weeds had crushed under the weight of my feet, ejecting visible spores into the atmosphere.  I do not know if I inhaled the potentially toxic spores.  I speak of these spora because they adhere to my mind and cloud my eyes with great detail.  As I proceeded I observed a cave, which I had not seen in the past.  The entrance was a crevice into which I climbed, stood up, and looked around.  The inside was a cave, like any other, however, a glint of green light crackled and shone through another fracture at the far end.

Out of pure curiosity I fearlessly approached the eerie, green glare.  I reached the crevice from which the light originated and crept into the second opening.  Inside there were gargantuan stalagmites and stalactites inundating the cave.  The cuspidate structures were dripping green, viscous, mineral-based matter.  I existed awestricken. As I scrutinized my surroundings I grew increasingly relaxed.  The green, viscous matter hypnotized me.  I was in a state of perpetual bliss, however, I soon came to realize that I was unable to move.  I had become a part of the cavern walls; the green matter had begun to devour my body!  Roots of an unearthly and gruesome plant held my limbs prey!  At this point no sensation remained in my body.  All that I possessed was a gut inclination that I was being ingested alive by an odious, beastly king of plant life!  I forced my eyelids shut, knowing that the green and brown monster would next prey upon my vision. I dared not to peer around any longer.

The following morning I awoke in my bed; the sun shone through my bedroom window.  This felt too wonderful to be true so I quickly got dressed and walked into town.  The town itself appeared to be unchanged from the last time I had seen it, except that there were no people anywhere in sight!  I was sure it was day and on any other day the town would have been bustling with life.  I searched for a familiar soul but failed to find any signs of human life.  I walked through town and contemplated what I might do next.  It occurred to me that I should visit the local church.  I do not regularly attend church, but on such a day I deemed it a necessity.

Upon my arrival at the church there was a group of people gathered around the priest.  I correctly assumed that a member of our town had passed away—everyone was attending the funeral.  I hesitantly approached the huddled mess of people and proceeded to make my inquiry, “Who died?”  No one acknowledged my presence, so I cried out, “WHO DIED, DAMN IT?”  Still, not a single one of these pathetic imbeciles answered my question, as if I ceased to exist.  This blatant show of disrespect was infuriating.  As I stood psychotic, red-cheeked, and engulfed within an ocean of emotion, the priest stated my name.  How in Hell could I have been involved in the death of some ignoramus!

At that moment I stumbled over to the coffin only to see my rotting corpse!  I was a spirit attending my own funeral. I now thought myself mad beyond the farthest reaches of madness.  I was attending my own funeral but since when was I dead?  As I began to ponder about what I had just witnessed the whole world turned white and vanished.  I might add that this was truly miraculous, for it appended the possibility that I was not a rotting corpse at all.  It may have been an awful nightmare.  That white implosion was blinding, therefore, I felt the exigency to close my eyes completely. I was stupefied, slipping in and out of consciousness, however, I vaguely recall seeing that eerie green light one, last time.  After that I can bethink nothing but a silent blackness.

I roused in the hospital bed in which I lay at this exact moment.  This is why I do not know where my sanity lies.  Is any singular reality real or does one create one’s own reality?  The only credence that will keep me sane within the confines of my mind is that I create my own reality. I shall now fall into my Reality—the eternal peace of dreamless sleep.