Login   Sign Up 



 

Antabuse

by Bunbry 

Posted: 29 January 2009
Word Count: 380
Summary: For the Flash 2 Pill Challenge


Font Size
 


Printable Version
Print Double spaced


Dave looked at the bottle of amber liquid before him and realized he had started to sweat. It had been three months since he last enjoyed the taste. Now he regretted buying it, knowing full well how angry, how sad, Sally would be. But the urges were overwhelming and he picked up the razor blade that lay next to the bottle with trembling fingers, feeling sick with fear.


Dave had been an alcoholic, 'alcohol dependant' they call it these days, for years now, but it was only when he found Sally in tears two Christmases ago packing her suitcase that he finally went to his GP. A short stay in a detox unit - with follow up support - had kept him off whiskey for all of ten days.

It was then that Antabuse was suggested. A daily pill that you take, the caveat being, drink even the tiniest drop of alcohol while taking the medication and you’d become violently ill – could even die.

Sally was keen, Dave less so, but he realised that life as he knew it - marriage, job, kids - was on the line, so he agreed and for months Dave took the tablets without fail, stayed dry. Then his brother was killed in a motorcycle accident.

Did he need alcohol, or was the accident just a good excuse to need it? Dave wasn’t sure, but stopped his medication and restarted the whiskey.

With pressure from Sally he was back on Antabuse within weeks but the spell had been broken, its magic diminished. He’d stopped taking it once and found it easy to stop again.

It was during a tearful discussion with his GP that the possibility of an implant was muted. The medication would be inserted in the flesh beneath the skin under local anaesthetic where it could not be removed. Sally said nothing, but the look in her eyes was all that was needed to give Dave the courage to say yes to the surgery.


A now scarlet razor blade lay on the beige carpet and a tiny part of Dave’s mind, the part that was still sane, wondered what Sally would say about the mess. But as he held the implant in his bloody hand he knew he no longer really cared.










Favourite this work Favourite This Author


Comments by other Members



tusker at 14:40 on 29 January 2009  Report this post
I really liked this, Nick.

It conveys all the misery and desperation that alcoholism creates.

Her love for MC, enduring, despite the pain he's caused her. His love for her and his fight against the addiction.

The ending is gruesome but it showed how, even with the best will in the world and no matter how much they will lose, some cave in.

One nit pick: 2nd paragraph you have 2 now's which sort of jarred.

Jennifer

Bunbry at 16:19 on 29 January 2009  Report this post
Thanks for spotting that eagle-eyes! All fixed now. And thanks for your kind comments.

Nick

Nella at 16:16 on 30 January 2009  Report this post
Oooh, brutal, Nick. That one goes under the skin. Well done!
Robin

Bunbry at 18:52 on 30 January 2009  Report this post
Thanks for the kind comment Robin!

Nick

Cholero at 16:26 on 31 January 2009  Report this post
Nick

Ooh and ouch, that ending got me right where it was meant to, didn't see it coming at all. Properly grisly. Really nicely done.
a tiny part of Dave’s mind, the part that was still sane
-nice.
Did he need alcohol, or was the accident just a good excuse to need it?
-nicely put.
Couple of mini-picks:
but it was only when he found Sally in tears two Christmases ago packing her suitcase that he finally went to his GP
-do you need 'only' and 'finally' ??
muted
should be mooted I think.

I thought there was perhaps too much 'tell'. The It was then that Antabuse was suggested... paragraph might work as a conversation and give a change of rhyhtmn and mood which is quite 'steady' as things stand. Just a thought, please ignore at will...

But as he held the implant in his bloody hand he knew he no longer really cared.
-just a terrific image.

Best,

Pete



Bunbry at 10:53 on 01 February 2009  Report this post
Thanks for the kind comments, and for the nits Pete. Can't believe I wrote 'muted'!

And I will have a tinker and try the dialogue thing you suggested.

Cheers

Nick


To post comments you need to become a member. If you are already a member, please log in .