Brianna Sireika

Honors English II

18 September 2013

The Addict

In a small void in the woods, completely secluded from all civilization, perched on a stump was Zach Barry. Sweating. Itching. Trembling. Alone.

He was a tall, athletic young man, dark hair, and blue eyes. He came from a good family that cared for him dearly, and had a beautiful, kind-hearted girlfriend that would do anything for him. At the moment, he looked like death. He was pale, as white as the winter snow. You could see his veins, his skin transparent. He had lost massive amounts of weight. His eyes and cheeks hollowed out. He was a skeleton. He had become a stranger to his own body.

Zach’s parents would disown him if they saw him like this. His girlfriend would be crushed. He doesn’t remember when it started… All he knows is he can’t stop. The rush it brought. The pinch, like a snake bite. It all started from lingering with the wrong crowd.

Rocking back and forth on the stump, alone. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his right ear. He briskly spun around. No one. Another sound. This time to his left. Turning slowly, as if not to scare it off a second time. Heart pounding. Sweat dripping off the side of his jaw. He looks down and see’s his phone ringing with his mothers name on it. This is the fourth time she had called him that hour. That hour… It seemed to Zach like an eternity.

He decided walking will help the time pass. Slowly rising off the stump he felt a heavy weight in his legs. They felt immobile. Dragging his feet he began to pace. Back and forth, back and forth. He started thinking about “slamming” again. He started moving faster. Shaking his head as if it would help his addiction.

Another sound. Alarming him enough for a whimper to escape his mouth. He revolved on his back heel to find nothing. Staring blankly ahead into the tall pine trees, he remembered the lie he had told his parents. He was going to spend some time in San Diego with a long time friend. He was now in the San Bernardino Mountains. No one had any idea. He believed himself unsafe around his family. He felt he could harm them, his brain half decapitated. They were beginning to notice the difference in his appearance and actions, but had trusted him enough to let him leave. They had trusted him…

The guilt hit him. What had he done? They would never forgive him. No need to forgive him if he never came back. Would they ever find him? With the technology these days he was positive someone would eventually find him.

A figure of a man