“Babe…you felt that right?,” yelled Joseph from the hallway as he approached his bedroom.

“The little shaking? Yeah I did but I thought I stood up to fast, what was it.” His girlfriend replied.

“I’m not sure exactly what but you know how there’s that government facility a couple miles away, by that gated off road? I’m guessing it was from there. It happens a lot but I was just asking in case you felt it too.”

Alyssa sat on the futon today, not in her usual spot next to her boyfriend Joseph on his bed, as she looked at the small white square in her hand.

“so this is what we are doing now?” Staring at Joseph with a suspicious look on her face.

“Your going to tell me you never tried acid the whole time you lived in those ghetto apartments?”

Replied Joseph with an amused tone.

Alyssa shook her head slowly side to side as she continued to stare down at the drugs in her hand.

“It’s nothing too crazy, I swear I wouldn’t even let you try it if I didn’t think you could handle it” said Joseph who now was getting ready to take his with her.

“Alright I trust you, just know if i start seeing shit or my eyeballs fall out of my head, it’s definatly over between us,” Alyssa replies to her boyfriends attempt to ease her nerves.

Now as Alyssa drops the patch onto her tongue, she leans back into the worn in futon and looks at the clock above the door and closes her eyes anticipating the effects about to take place.

“That was weak or im just a sav,” thought Alyssa to herself, eyes still closed but noticing she was in the dark now.

“Babe?…” opening her eyes to look around,

“This isn’t the time to play joe, turn the light back on please before i wig out.”

No reply.

She got up with a deep sigh of irritation toward her immature boyfriend, she walked to were the light was but couldn’t find the switch anywhere. She was confused now, she felt along the whole wall and there was no light switch anywhere and nothing familiar feeling as she took small steps, still in the dark, still calling for Joseph.

“Alyssa? Is that you out there?” Called out a surprising but familiar voice.

“Uh yeah, who is that? Can you call joe in here please and Could you turn on a light, I can’t find one anywhere,” Alyssa said, feeling the attitude coming on in her reply to this mystery person.

“Sorry if that came out rude, i had barely woke up and trying to find my man and a light just got me a little panicked,” said Alyssa knowing that she did not want the fact that they had just dropped acid earlier to be the obvious answer to her paranoia.

“Who am I? Alyssa it’s me adrian, your brother.

What’s wrong with you and yeah there is no light in the shed, you know that. And what are you doing out here anyways, it’s like 11 at night girl what’s up with you?” Adrian calls out from what sounded like a good 15 feet away from where Alyssa was.

A light turns on in the distance, headed towards Alyssa who was now just standing and waiting with so much confusion rushing through her.

The shed door slid open and Adrian shined his phone light on her, “hey you…you okay?”

As her brother stood there motioning for her to come closer so he could take her hand as she took small steps around all the junk in the shed.

“Alyssa, who is joe?” Asked adrian quietly.

Alyssa looks at adrian with confusion, “what do you mean who’s joe? Joseph aka joe aka my boyfriend for the last 6 years… your joking right?”

Alyssa snapped back at the question her brother asked.

“I thought we were past this Alyssa… Mom told me you were finally moving on in your life” said adrian, now stopping at the chair on the patio, pulling up two chairs for him and his sister.

“Sit down sis, let me talk to you before we go in, mom is in there and she don’t need to hear all this.”

“Um okay this is a bit dramatic, is this about the breaking up all the time? If that’s it, you really don’t need to do all this, I get it. But acting like you don’t know who I was talking about is a bit much adrian.” She said as she hesitantly took her seat across from him.

“Oh my god Alyssa, enough! Joseph is gone. You know that! It’s been over a year since he died. This gotta stop. Get it together please before you go inside, mom doesn’t need this right now!” Adrian yelled at his sister, angry that she was still talking about Joseph like he was still alive.

He pushed his chair back without giving her the chance to reply and stormed into the house.

Alyssa sat their in disbelief on the verge of a nervous breakdown, not able to fathom what she was just told and having no idea what was happening to her. Her whole world turned upside down in an instant.

“This can’t be real, this has to be a joke…

Somewhere I walked into some alternate reality, that’s the only answer. Joseph is not gone…I just saw him…we were just together,” Alyssa thought to herself, trying to not let the panic attack,she could feel that was coming on, take her breath away too fast. She tried to calm herself down, but it felt impossible, Joseph was the love of her life, she had known him since they were kids, now 21, ready to start their lives together, one minute he was here now she’s told he’s gone and has been gone and she lost a whole year suddenly. Alyssa focused on what she could control at the moment.

Her breathing. She leaned back into the lawn chair and closed her eyes as she looked into the sliding door to her house, her eyes on the clock above the fridge.

“Alyssa! Wake up! Oh my god are you dead? Your dead aren’t you!” The words Alyssa kept hearing as she felt herself being shook.

She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the clock above the door, And the second thing was Joseph stepping into her view now with a smile on his face.

“I don’t know what you saw but my trip was terrible, you weren’t even in it,” he says to her with a disappointed tone in his voice.

“What was your like?” He asked Alyssa.

“It’s over!,” Alyssa screamed back at his question as she gets up to leave.

“Ooookay…I guess she saw some crazy shit then.” Joseph laughed as he watched her walk out of the room.