Is That A Coyote?

One Thursday evening in March I found myself purchasing Cannabis with several friends. Almost as an afterthought I purchased 2 grams of Mushrooms ... just for something to do over the weekend. I contemplated eating the mushrooms that night but instead decided to save them for Friday (wise move).

On Friday night, I sat down to another evening of marijuana smoking with a friend (who we'll call 'N'). After we had done a few blades, I remembered the fungus sitting on my computer desk and proceeded to consume it, using Coca-Cola (or something similar) as a chaser. These mushrooms were more vile than usual, being bluer and nastier than most. So vile were the mushrooms infact that I had to wrap the final portion in a slice of bread to get them down. I began eating at 7:45 and finished at 8:30 (it was a painful procedure).

Soon after that, N, having not purchased any mushrooms, decided to purchase some alcohol. I could already feel waves pulsing through me and that sort of anxiousness that I had come to expect from mushroom liftoff. A while later we made a journey to the liquor store ... which I falsely deemed to be the peak of the mushrooms. I had used mushrooms extensively for the five previous months and my tolerance had begun to show itself in quite lasting ways. I did not expect much from the trip, and as we returned from the liquor store I was convinced I was already coming down from the trip. After N consumed his alcohol we decided to take a walk ... a walk fuelled by intoxication rather than intent. We listened to some Sebadoh while I rolled a couple of cigarettes and a large joint to take with us. Then we set out.

The river valley at night was ethreal and mystical. The ground was covered in snow and it was very dark. As we walked I became confused as to whether trees were infact people standing in the woods (a little worrying, but not overly disturbing). At this time I was enjoying the mental depth of thought that I believe to be the true power of mushrooms (I don't understand anybody who does mushrooms for the hallucinations). I was convinced I was still on the way down from the mushroom trip but was still quite high. We came to the river at last and sat on a bench for a while. Though frozen over the river rolled in buoyant waves and made me feel very peaceful. While we sat on the bench we smoked the joint and it was at this time I believe the mushrooms began to peak. As I finished the joint I saw a pattern which seemed to be directly imprinted on my retina; a pattern of pink bowling pins with yellow stripes. Everywhere I looked the pattern was there, like it was painted on my glasses. We moved on, and several minutes later we saw a shape approaching us on the trail.

'What the fuck is that?' I said.
'I think it's a dog,' said N.
'Is that a Coyote?' I asked.
'Maybe,' said N.
'Looks big ... like a wolf,' I said.

We stood there in unease as the animal stood before us on the trail. I knew it was real, as N saw it and he had not ingested any hallucinogens. It seemed intrigued by our presence as well, and we stood there in a virtual standoff for what seemed like a very long time. We advanced on it, and it held its ground. I looked over at N ... and there were two. The real N, and the blue N. The blue N was a glowing blue outline of N that stood several feet away from him but mimiced every action he made. I turned back to the Coyote and it began burrowing into the snow. It began glowing and pulsating like golden energy ... and I stood there dumbfounded as it turned into a golden slinky of energy and slinkied back and forth in the snow. Soon we decided to try our luck with scaring it away (as it blocked our path). it was afraid of us and took off.

the rest of the trip (which consisted of crossing the river by footbridge and finding a way out of the valley) was pretty wild. I began to feel overwhelmed as the sky took on a pinkish hue (though night) and the skyscrapers of downtown pointed up in the sky in random ways, not really connected to anything and not really corresponding to their actual location in physical space ... just tall things pointing randomly up. I had no idea where we were and cars zoomed past. I felt like a small cold child on some great journey ... my mind began to splinter as i contemplated the universe more fully. i began to believe that i would never be the same, and wondered what life would be like if i never came down. it amused and confused me, but was frightening. as we crossed the footbridge, the railings sent eerie shadows which made me extremely uncomfortable ... and being several stories above the river. As we came to the other side I felt very strange. I was three inches tall and everything was so unbelievably large that it gave me vertigo simply contemplating walking uphill. my consciousness became that of a child, and i took on all the fears that i had as a child but had since grown out of. after coming out of the valley (a process which made me confront my childhood fear of heights).we ate some food at a Mr. Submarine. My consciousness was so jilted that I was unable to function in the context of everyday social interaction. my arms were also quite numb. we walked off down the street after eating and went for a beer at a very expensive bar (practically the only one that was still open). it was then that I truly believed I was once again sane and in the real world.