SOMETIMES TIME MOVES LIKE A movie, a continuous shot. Other times, it moves like a slideshow, a series of distinct separate moments.

And after I drank from the flask, each moment was a freeze-frame, something I was watching from outside myself, sharper and more real than reality had ever been before.

Charlie, his face contorted and purple with rage, his foot raised to kick me in the ribs.

Mona’s mouth open in a scream as she punched out at Charlie.

Charlie shoving her away.

The blow from Charlie’s foot that connected with my face, the blood rushing into my mouth.

I watched it all, tasted the blood, felt the impact. It felt so very far away. Like it was receding into the distance, like it would all soon disappear. Like I would soon disappear. And I closed my eyes and curled up tight, readying myself to go.

It was okay, I thought, even as I began to slip away.

I’d been so tired, and maybe now I’d have a chance to rest.

And the last thing I registered, before everything went still, was that in the far distance there was a sound not unlike sirens.