I had stepped outside onto my patio after a terrible day which led to a panic attack. I struggled to light the joint with my shaking hands. After smoking one too many joints, I realized I had become way too inebriated. I stood up and stared out into my backyard which was a beautiful grass lawn. after staring at it for quite some time, i couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be human sized figures in the grass.
Paranoia set in, so I continued to observe the grass to rationalize what I was seeing, however doing so only made it worse. The figures were becoming clear until it wasn’t a theory anymore. There was something in the grass. Every instinct in me was telling me to run, but I couldn’t help but stare, and that’s when I realized.
“grasshoppers…”
I mumbled underneath my breath before quickly running inside and locking the door behind me. I ran up my stairs to my bedroom and collapsed on my bed, panicked and out of breath. I quickly remembered my bedroom window had a lookout point of the backyard, so I rushed over there to catch a glimpse of these creatures from a distance.
I then laid eyes on the most horrifying sight of my life. 6 feet tall grasshoppers hopping around my backyard. I couldn’t stop staring, I figured this had to have been a dream, a hallucination. Yes, that’s all it is, a hallucination I told myself before collapsing on my bed once more. I figured I must have been seeing things due to my intoxicated state.
When I woke the next morning, the first thing I thought about was last night. I quickly realized that weed would not cause hallucinations like that. I looked out my window again to see nothing suspicious. I decided to be brave and investigate myself.
As I stepped outside, a nauseating wave of panic washed over me. I slowly made my way over to the grass and nearly fainted from anxiety as I took my first step. As I continued down the lawn, I noticed nothing abnormal. My heart dropped to my stomach as I suddenly descended down a small hole in my backyard.
I looked down and noticed a tunnel leading down into the earth. The tunnel was eerily tantalizing, as if it were begging me to explore it.
I couldn’t resist. I began to crawl down the narrow tunnel, noticing an increasingly pungent smell of marijuana as I ventured deeper, until I arrived at a door. The door looked exactly like my bedroom door, only this one had a window. It was covered by a curtain.
With trembling hands, I pulled the curtain away, to reveal the most disturbing scene I had ever seen. Behind the curtain was my bedroom, only I saw myself laying in my bed, the human sized grasshoppers controlling my body with strings, making me pick up my bong and take a rip. After that, they turned on the television, supplied me with unhealthy snacks, and reassured me in the most low and disturbing voice.
“There is nothing to worry about. Forget about all your responsibilities, they do not matter here.”
I barely even realized that I was no longer watching myself, I was experiencing it. I was lying in bed. calm and blissful. I was aware they were using me as a puppet, but I felt so amazing I didn’t care. I never wanted it to end.