They…

They had a spectacular day filled with joy and and love.

They had some delightful food and drink, and then headed back home.

They felt a bit of pain (this could have been any assortment of pain; back pain, knee pain, stomach twinges, head pain or ‘other’ pain)… so they ingested a little pain reliever.

But then their breathing slowed down too much. It became shallow and their body was not able to regulate it.

For a brief moment they wondered if this situation would be fatal. They would have felt terribly scared, worried and panicked at that moment, but their brain receptors had already been kissed and all discomfort had already been blocked.

The receptors told them to feel calm, happy and blissful instead. And so they did.

Their body forgot how to breath but it didn’t matter, because they were peacefully drifting off into a beautifully enchanted sleep and didn’t even realize they had forgotten. To breath.

As they drifted off to sleep, they felt what they thought were simply natural endorphins. Courtesy of dopamine’s creation, they felt a beguiling euphoric rush. It was all so gorgeous. They fell into a deep sleep with a huge smile on their face, thinking of everything wonderful in their life that had ever happened. And not knowing they’d never wake up again.

This is what I tell myself about them… Them, who tragically left us from accidentally ingesting too much. It makes me feel better, because I can’t bear to think of them suffering.

While deadly, it wasn’t painful or scary or uncomfortable for them.

This is what I tell myself…

—

*I’m NOT speaking positively about opiates or opioids. NOT AT ALL. I’m speaking of what I must tell myself to make thinking of what They went through bearable.