Day 3

At this point, Wednesday isn't a day that exists. Rather, it lurks and creeps in the dark alleyways of my memory like a thief. I think that was the day The Profuser and I went to the medic to ascertain the amplitude of his ankle. Was that also the night of Kim's sister's wedding? I cannot remember the day. If it was, the wedding was grand.

It happened outside The Temple, on the northeast side, as the sun was slipping away over the mountains. There was a Burning Man Brass Band, and much dancing. Love perfumed the air, made it warm with tenderness. Vows were exchanged, as were rings. Kim and I disappeared into The Temple after the ceremony; my memory is too wrinkled then. I remember we held hands and each placed our free fingers against the stone; electricity, dissolution, euphoria, bodilessness, buoyancy.

Later, I found myself dancing on a golden dragon named Abraxas. Soft melodies danced like fire-flies on breezy violins. As I stepped down, a beautiful girl told me she had been waiting for me. I didn't know what to say. Beauty's power to stun is rivaled only by fear's.

The Profuser and I made our way back to our camp. That night a friend told me some unexpected news, though it was a predictable story. I wandered out onto the playa alone. I sat on a couch and counted the stars. Sounds and visions passed over me; some real some imagined. A stranger sat beside me. Young and exuberant, though humbled by his youth, he asked how my night was going. We talked candidly and opined without restraint. He reminded me of me when I was younger and I enjoyed the time we spent speaking. Soon though, the hallucinations - aural and visual - rendered me autistic, and I explained I could no longer understand the words coming out of my mouth. He smiled and dismissed himself. I sat for a while longer, marveling at the really unreal reality of this unrealistic place, and enjoyed the lights.

I walked back to the camp and headed straight for my tent. When I closed my eyes to sleep, geometric patterns and fractals danced behind my eyelids. My mind was asleep but my body was still awake. I felt like a jellyfish, see through and brainless, floating gelatinously through space. I dreamed/hallucinated lurid landscapes. My sleep would last a few minutes before I would wake, but each dream was heavy and wet with detail. My mind like a sponge, being repeatedly soaked and squeezed. At some point I had to walk to the potties, completely unable to tell if I was walking, dreaming, or sleep-walking. Fortunately, I actually got up and left the tent, but it didn't help my sleep at all. I closed my eyes but it just felt like I blinked.

I spent the night hallucinating that I was sleeping.