A Cautionary Tale

The other day I was out and about which is a fairly normal thing for me. However, this time round, something completely unexpected happened.

I ran into an old friend.

An old friend I have not seen in two years.

Where do I start.

Well, let me explain how I knew her the last time we saw eachother. I was 17 and she was 15, we got along really well, she had a crush on me, and I had a crush on her. She played volleyball and was quite active in her church and in her school. She had an older sister and a mother that loved her dearly and a group of friends who were all really really close with one and other. Our friendship was pretty cool, we hung out and went to lunch and what not. So I mean, she was your typical happy-go-lucky teenage girl. Healthy, active, and popular.

Fast forward two years.

Today she is barely alive. She is nothing but skin and bones, lives on her own in an absolute dump and works as a dishwasher at Boston Pizza. She lives with a 14 year old run away, and what do the two of them do all day? Smoke crack, and pop E. Somehow my friend was introduced to drugs and was hooked. For life. The girl is walking skeleton these days, and her apartment? well, the only thing inhabiting her cupboards other than rodents is her ecstasy, her crack, her cocaine, and whatever other drugs she has tucked away. She is never coherent enough to understand what is going on around her. Plus, she can't afford her drugs all the time, so what does she do? she sleeps with her dealer. Seeing my friend in such a state was a real eye opener. Thinking and looking back now on the memories that us two had, it brings tears to my eyes to see such a waste of a beautiful life. It was hard to see. If that wasn't a wake-up call then I don't know what is.

R.I.P. Alice...you are already dead to us...