picnic

I found myself deep in the woods in some kind of clearing. The soil is dry, yellow and crumbly, lumpy clods everywhere and stumpy trees. There is a shelter near. Everything is quite empty.

I lay out my day pack, I lay my blankets on the ground. I try and relax. I try and enjoy my solitude. I eat some things I brought with me. It includes an odd sausage. Its full of oil, orange red oil like a chorizo. But it flows, back and forth, and the oil settles to one or the other side quickly like an hourglass. I squeeze some of it out and taste it, it is good. I start rubbing it on my arms, covering them in streaks of oil and leaving it looking half grey. I rub it in and my arms start looking nicely tanned. I keep squeezing and rubbing but I can't go fast enough, it dries up and my skin begins falling off in chunks. I am embarrassed by this and start gathering my things. At this point I look around and find I'm no longer alone, a few strangers linger under a far tree, they seem to be sizing me up. I try and find a shirt to put on as they come over to me. They watch me fold my blankets and chatter some. They ask me if its dragonseed that I have there. Apparently it is awful for you, but its quite popular among former alcoholics that have a desire for something. It really calls to you, so they say.

I clear up, I shake the clods off my blanket, then I go and find the towel I left elsewhere. I go to the shelter, inside is a half flooded bathhouse, it feels cracked in half somehow. I try my best to just clean myself and go.