High Time!

It has been long since I took an innocuous reprieve with the bottle . It was supposed to douse those fires. It was supposed to help me think better. It was supposed to cajole me as a friend when all else is lost. It was supposed to be my elixir.

It turned out to be a constant companion over the years which has been privy to every subtle nuance of my personal life that comprised a rollercoaster set of experiences. Comfortably numb was I in the shelter of the high that assuaged my spirit. So constant was its presence that a spare moment without it - outside the realm of the 'win my bread' routine - was unthinkable. Acquired or not, it was definitely gaining ground to be an indelible part of me.

It never asked for anything. It didn't need any occasion. It prodded you to embrace it regardless of which emotion you were feeling at any given point in time. And succeed it did, in a spirited way!

But then comes a time when you know that it fogged your mind all along, keeping your focus away from the more important things around you. It was a realization that can't be ignored. Everything ages with time but only the spirits age better with time. Not us.

Loyalties are profound and the love for the high is immense. But one has to move away from the lure in the interest of a more staid, responsible innings of the future. I have had my moments with probably my best non-human friend and will always cherish those boisterously funny, slurry, slippery, raucous memories. I will miss its constant presence but will reach out to it on a need to interact basis. I am sure my friend will understand the pain with which I will turn my back to it.

And I am sure when we meet again, we would smile to each other and say, "High Time!"