Experiment In Exquisite Excess
Author's Note: Was it a surreal dream or bizarre reality? You decide. I found a fairly convenient parking space early Friday evening, just a couple of blocks from the Benedum theatre where I was to meet friends in about an hour for a performance of “Wicked.” I thought I’d stop into a small sidestreet bar for a couple of quick ones before showtime. It was a particularly dark and sleazy place. Almost a retro throwback to a 50’s dive bar out of a film noir, only without the blue haze of cigarette smoke.It was though I walked through some twilight zone time portal, even the hefty female bartender was a retro garbed artifact from 70 years back. I ordered a hardboiled 50’s rye straight, with a short draft. No miniature folding parasols in this joint.She gave me disturbingly sinister smile when she sat down my drink and ignored my my attempts at small talk.The rye was firey and raw going down and I ordered another and thats when I started feeling peculiar.I downed the second drink quickly hoping it would knock away my sudden discomfort but thats all I remembered till I awoke briefly in the heavy Mercedes.We seemed to be on 5th Avenue heading toward Oakland. The interior of the black Mercedes was a gaudy red leather. The heavyset men on both sides of me wore black suits and dark glasses. I passed out again. Next I woke up and was strapped to a gurney and being wheeled down what looked like a long corridor in a hospital. Had I been injured? I felt heavy and weak. Two white coated orderlies pushed the gurney into an elevator and we seemed to be descending down an endless number of levels. I passed out again. ...