I couldn't take my eyes off her.
I didn't care about the blazing of the bonfires, burning my skin.
I didn't care that other people were noticing me, watching her.
I certainly didn't care that everyone was filthy; covered in grit and grime.
You could scrape grease, and probably much more, out of all the dirty, matted, disgusting hair.

Everyone moved as one. As sweaty, and grimy as we were, we were one.
We lived through the music.
A musician onstage, playing from the core of his soul.
He was totally enveloped in his own creation.
He gyrated his hips as he played, the music pulsing through him.
These movements fed into the audience, the sleaziness of that raw, powerful energy radiating off him, empowering the crowd.
We danced.

I thought she might have been a gypsy at first.
She definately was not local.
I'd never seen anything like her before.
I'm not sure what it was; there was no one thing I could pinpoint about her that made her so irresistably beautiful.
She too moved with the crowd.
She danced, but I wouldn't call it that.
Her moving the way she did was like...
an unknown mystical art... I guess.
Her dark hair was wild and exuded life all on it's own.
I don't remember her size, or clothes, or stature.
She was just complete. Lovely.
Her eyes danced aflame, alive with the night.

My blood had surged. I was desperate.
I needed to know that amazing being.
I was warm.
I nervously thought about venturing over to her... ***


"Tom, pass the joint. Please."
I was jerked out of another lazy daydream, inspired by boredom.
OK.
I gave the joint back to David.
"Thanks."
I nodded.
"You wanna go to the pit tonight?"
I responded, with a sluggish groan resembling approval, and went back to staring at the table.
David chuckled and took out his phone and began texting.

I knew the dope was taking effect. There was an unusual sensation happening, one that even if I hadn't been high I'd have trouble describing.

It was like my brain was putty that could liquify at any moment.
I felt the edges of my brain creeping over the sides, like magnets were pulling me down towards the table.
"Haha."
I couldn't help but giggle at myself.
My vision was warped. The table suddenly seemed lopsided, and I became more aware of the nicks and scratches in the wood finish. There was one scratch that looked like a Z...
I loved being high. Everything was fun and exciting.
Unfortuantely, you can't be high forever.
I was filled with sadness that my plain and uneventful life would be returned to me in a few hours.
Life was boring.









***


The pit was a huge dip in the Earth, located on one of the most popular beaches in our area.
It was in the middle of a cluster of sand dunes. On windy nights, sand would fly around with the air and engrain itself in our eyes.
Despite this, I still loved the pit.
There was a large, homemade stage in the centre; a new group played there every week.
I don't remember the name of the man who played that night, but I can't forget his music, or the way he swayed... under control of the music's influence.

We got there around midnight. The party was in full swing.
The air was thick with the sweet smell of cannabis, and by this time, the moronic dustheads had left to find solitude (or in some cases, company) in cheap motels.
I was pleased.
The night was setting out to be better than most. ***


"Tom, you need a girlfriend."
"What?"
"I said you need a girlfriend. Desperately.", Alex repeated, annoyed.
"Why? No I don't. Screw off, man."
I shrugged him away and downed the last of the borrowed Jack Daniels.
Alex continued complaing about how I was old enough to drive a car, and therefore expected to have a woman.
He didn't get it.

The truth was, I was lonely.
My father worked most of the time, in another state, so I always had the house to myself.
I did want a girlfriend, really. Girls have asked me out before, but they were all the same, each a carbon copy of one another.
I wanted something more, if there was such a thing.
The guys wouldn't get this though...

Annoyed, I left my friends and made my way towards the stage. I wanted to be distracted.
Maybe someone would be selling, or better yet, giving away acid. I doubted it.
I sighed, stopped, and became more aggravated with the sand collecting in my shoe.

20 minutes later, failing at my search for illegal psychedelics, I blindly walked into the centre of some beach party mosh pit.
"Ow!"
Someone had elbowed my in the face.
It was then the music started playing. It began slowly, but then out of nowhere a soulful burst of energy (guitar-playing followed by some sort of jazz instrument) was released.
Instantly, I was transfixed. The people around me danced rhythmically to the sound.
A sea of a thousand colors.
I wanted to dance, but I wasn't intoxicated enough to embarass myself.
Sometime after, I found myself moving with the music anyway.
It was around this time that I turned my head for a moment and saw her.
I blinked.

I stared.
I don't know for how long.
All I wanted to to talk to her. Know her. Maybe love her.
Shy, I almost looked away, but out of no where, she jerked her around, and met my gaze.
Her eyes bore into mine.
My heart stopped. I waited.
Insecurities flew through my thoughts.
I was shaky and flushed.
She looked, I looked.
She smiled.