The sky was littered with stars. I was lying on my back, gazing up at them. I reached out, grabbed one, and pulled it out of the sky to examine more closely. The sidewalk I had chosen to sprawl my lifeless, limp body down upon was hard, yet not terribly uncomfortable. I suppose I hadn’t really chosen that particular sidewalk at all; it just so happened to be the nearest elevated surface from the door that was the entrance to the three story apartment I had just exited.
A few friends had dragged themselves outside with me. Merrick, who had been bitten by an electric baseboard heater was the first. We thought the incident to be awfully funny until the next morning when there was a swollen gash still oozing blood on her leg. Merrick’s quasi-boyfriend staggered out shortly after and announced he was going to go drive around. A few other third floor dwellers joined them, leaving me to the not so terribly uncomfortable sidewalk, which was now starting to whisper things to me. I put the star back in the sky.