Peephole

Peephole(Steve Austen) If you get through the 60s and still think like you did in the 50s, something went seriously wrong. That's what James says. James is a 19-year-old university student studying political science in Brisbane. He's back in town for the Christmas holidays, celebrating with his family. What they don't know, however, is that he's also back to sell illegal drugs to teenagers. Pretty messy for a potential politician, but what the public and the authorities don't know won't hurt them. Here I am, under the influence of LSD and so patiently waiting for the side effects to begin.

"Remember, Kevin, you control the trip, so don't make it bad for yourself."
James is giving me advice and helping me through the trip since we're pretty good friends and this is my first experience with LSD, or any illicit drug, for that matter. James says he hasn't tried LSD in nearly a year, but he isn't trying it while he's happy being sober. I guess I'm happy too, but I just want to see what all the fuss is about. Apparently hallucinogens give you a creative boost. That shouldn't do any harm considering all the tasks my English teacher gave me over the holidays to make sure I'm up to scratch with the rest of year 12.

James and I are sitting behind a religious altar. He said it will enhance my trip. I'm not really sure if I would identify myself as a religious person, but maybe the drug will change that. There's a mother getting her son, around 8, out of the car and walking him to the altar. Judging by the way they are dressed they seem to be from a family of considerable faith. James says a lot of Christian ideals are morally illogical, which is strange because he told me that tripping is a good way to experience spiritual awakenings. Am I going to become a Muslim? Yeah, I don't think so.

I'm hearing some unusual noises coming from the altar. Maybe this is where the trip begins. Whether it's my imagination or not, it's got me curious and there's a hole in the wall just small enough for me to peep through without being noticed. I walk over to it and observe the building. Strange that these are meant for sacrificial slaughtering yet people take their children to them. It kind of scares me. It turns out that it's the mother of the child making the weird noises. She's spewing bible verses out of her mouth while her child sits on the steps below the altar. I can make out a few sentences she's made up on her own.
"Oh holy one, cleanse my child from sin", "spare his mind from the temptations of Satan", "protect him from the sinners that try to possess his mind and abolish his faith."
She puts her hands on her son's head and mutters words I can't understand. I suddenly start to feel uneasy and walk back over to James.

Things are starting to spiral into strange illusions now. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I keep seeing the mother and the boy in my head like it's trying to tell me something. I have to tell James.
"This is good. You're learning. I want you to let your thoughts take you to where they want you to go. Where are you, Kevin?"

I am standing in the middle of a large crowd, all marching towards a bright light. Not a single person slows or gains pace. They just march towards this supposedly brilliant figure. Nobody questions their actions. The people are all dressed the same, all from white ethnicities, and all look of higher class. I turn my head and there's nothing. Nothing but darkness. So I walk that way, and keep walking, and still nothing. Right about now I'm expecting someone to appear from the darkness. A demonic figure perhaps? But I don't see anyone.

James is talking again.
"Are there other people there?"
"Yes. Well there was."
"What were they doing?"
"Walking towards a light."
"What was in the light?"
"I don't know, I walked the other way."
"Why did you walk the other way?"
"Because nobody else would."

James got a kick out of this. I begin to laugh. I'm not sure why, but I can't stop. James tells me about his first experience.

"I started getting interested in politics after my first trip. I was your age."
His words start to form images in my head.
"I was raised in a very Christian household. My dad would beat my mum and my mum wouldn't tell anyone. I though it was normal for this to occur, but it still made me feel bad. The youth of the 60s are turning into liberal revolutionists for a reason, you know."
I see a group of people in their early twenties revolting against the government. Why is it that other animals don't have this problem?
"Why do we believe there is a figure in the sky that can offer us eternal happiness? Why can we not accept what we are given in this world?"
I see Galilei hiding from the Catholic Church after his controversial scientific theory sparked frustration to those in denial.

James is starting to tell me all the ideologies he thought about, and I don't think I've ever been more intrigued by a conversation. I like the way his words come out mouth. I want him to keep talking. I feel this weird desire, like I want to connect with his soul. In the back of mind I'm still hearing the raging mother quoting the bible in the back of my mind, but it doesn't matter to me. I control the trip. I'm not sure if the drug was really starting to get to me now, or if I had been hiding it or along, but I want to kiss James. And I do. And I'm not really sure what happened next, because the last thing I remember is his face turning cold as a long, sharp object pierced through my brain.