Never Try Acid Kids

“Never try acid kids…”

As Canada’s Day was fast approaching our plans for a summer cottage was being finalized. After a month of researching different spots that needed to coincide with our budget we finally found the perfect spot in between Ottawa and Quebec. With a few strings pulled we managed to find a vehicle for the trip. With everything all packed, all seasoned we were patiently waiting for the day of departure.

The itinerary included a night stay in the nation’s capital for Canada’s Day where the accommodation was provided by an Ottawa local who hitched a ride with us. The ride to Ottawa didn’t seem that long since my mind or the minds of the passengers were all over the place thanks to a natural herb assembled the night prior. Before we knew it the sun had set and we were in Ottawa: home to the Sens, the Parliament, the Prime Minister and a lot of sketchy white people. We were clueless as to what we could do on the eve of Canada’s day, the streets seemed pretty empty and I made a call to meet up with a girlfriend at a local bar. We Google mapped the location and began walking while enjoying the canals of Ottawa, as the walking continued we were clearly lost and had no clue where we were but that was all put aside when we stumbled upon an Asian massage parlor with a very attractive Asian girl on display…but we continued walking. As last call approached we were still wandering the streets of Ottawa and decided to meet my friend at her place instead. After arriving at her apartment we caught up for a bit and made a call to another girlfriend for drinks at her place. After a few glasses of what I believed to be whiskey everything else was a blur.

The streets were filling up quickly, everyone was holding Canadian flags and chanting “Canada” as we headed towards the highway, Ottawa was history. One day deep into our trip everyone is now anxious to see our cottage, our haven our place of salvation. It took maybe another 3 hours before we arrived to the middle of nowhere, literally. As the Canadian flags slowly disappeared, more and more Quebec flags appeared, we were getting close. The road turned into gravel and mud, driving on the designated path we soon located our cottage and entered the gates, we were finally here. Before unpacking the cars we took a tour around the vicinity and I must say the view from the backyard was priceless: a lake overlooking an atoll of trees with clear blue skies.  I chose the room with the fan which turned out to be the wisest decision and shared the bed with my boy. Almost instantly beers were being cracked and alcohol was being poured. Getting a little tipsy we took the party outdoors and sat on a floater attached to our port where the canoe was and zoned out to our paradise. The owner of the cottage arrived shortly to give us a visit and a rundown which was simply have fun but keep it real, he was cool. Our dinner was being prepared as the rest of crew settled in; we had pasta and meatballs with barbeque chicken. The rest of the night was spent drinking and chirping one another.

The mosquito bites were beginning to irritate me but it was okay because today is the day we’ve anticipated for, today is the day we try LSD aka Acid. After months and months of contemplating whether or not we should try this gem and consulting with many of our friends who have experimented with it we were now determine to give it a shot. It was going to be a 12 hour trip and many people compared the trip with mushrooms but not mushrooms, where everything you see will become more vibrant. We had a grand breakfast/lunch and waited until noon. The sun penetrated the den and onto the tab of acid which I was warned not to touch with my hands because it will seep through my skin and waste the drug. I placed the bluish purple piece of paper onto my tongue for like 5 minutes, the other 2 guys follow suited. There was no turning back now, as the rest of the crew munched on their mushrooms we went outdoors and waited for this psychedelic to kick in, not knowing what to expect and when it’ll hit, I just sun bathed on the float and went for a canoe ride with another buddy Maybe an hr in, I began to feel a little different, everything around me slowed and I felt as if I was hovering. The giggles began to kick in and for some reason I kept walking and walking not knowing where I was going and discovered a buddy in the hammock where he had wrapped himself up like a caterpillar in its’ cocoon, he was fucked. As I re entered the den, gravity bongs were being assembled and my turn was next, after inhaling my share I continued back outside laying in different spots around the cottage enjoying the grass, skies and water. 2 hours in it was clear, everyone in the cottage was fucked. One of my buddy was amazed by a package of milk and slit the top so he could pour it all over his hands in the sink. He said the feeling was sensational. Others couldn’t keep their hands off the carpet in the washroom as the texture felt euphoric and everyone’s vision became 1080p at one point. Another buddy couldn’t understand why one of the legs on the chair was not touching the floor before we pointed out that the rock base wasn’t even, he broke out into laughter. Another dude who had been solely drinking passed out on the floater while sun bathing, I’ve never seen an Asian burnt that bad until I saw him being carried in. All I could really remember is the consistent giggling and laughing conjured by the gang, I spent the rest of the afternoon looking up into the skies and into the trees.

Looking up at the sky I noticed something bizarre, the sky seemed to be coated with a layer of golden transparent shade and the clouds were within my grasp it was almost like looking into a giant kaleidoscope…I was in euphoria. Apart from Mother Nature’s lecture, my mind took me on an adventure from when I was child up into the current point of my life, all the decisions I made seem clear to me now as to why I made them and life itself was somewhat explained. As I glanced into the distant, the crew was chilling, swimming and canoeing and I thought to myself, what a beautiful planet we live on and how simple life could be. As I turned around a little garden snake appeared in front me, I am still and so is it. I remember looking it dead in the eyes and it slithered away momentarily. The sun was setting and we began to build a fire while the shroomers were coming to the end of their trip, dinner was being prepared but the fire kept the us at bay. How interesting it is to look at fire when you’re mind is somewhere else. Dinner was ready and the boys began eating but I was in no hurry to go back inside, I was still tripping. Enjoying the last few moments of the sun I noticed all the mosquito bites I have collected through out the day and I knew this will hurt by tomorrow.

The sun has settled and everything looked different at night, as we entered our base that’s when the trip actually began…the place was infested with creepy crawlies mind you that it is the summer and being genius’s  we left the windows and doors opened throughout the day. The shroomers seemed knackered from their day out but we were rejuvenated by some mysterious energy. I began munching on the left overs: "that’s some God damn good chicken" was all I could say repeatedly. After the meal, the drinking continued, followed by non stop screaming from one end to another. Everyone was laughing for no apparent reason and we were laughing hard as if the funniest joke had been announced but no one knew what the joke was. I found the movie Gremlin on the movie shelf and inserted it into the vcr and left it running. I couldn’t help but notice how dark it was outside, you couldn’t see a thing and it looked awfully frightening, somewhere you wouldn’t want to be in especially in the state we were in. It was 12 am, the lsd was beginning to fade and things began to reconnect so everyone munched on some more mushrooms and things got out of hand. The screaming got louder and the adventures resurrected within some. A buddy was wrapped up in bandages because a mosquito bite he endured had swelled up and coincidently his nose began to bleed, he needed a time out. I remember one of my buddy telling me how he was certain our wounded friend was  an injured Viet Cong from the Vietnam War, since our wounded friend is of Vietnamese decent. Then things got a little weird when I smashed the ice cube holder onto the sink to get the ice out which caused some awkwardness between the crew, so we did the unthinkable…we went outside, accompanied by a bottle of Vodka.

It wasn’t as hot anymore, the breeze was quite enjoyable and the silence was soothing. It’s dark, very dark; looking back at the lighted cottage we could tell the difference between insanity and peace. Those god damn mosquitoes are everywhere, thousands of them and the only way to get rid of these swine’s was to build a fire. Once the fire had been set, we were certain the mushrooms had begun to take effect, perhaps reawakening the afternoon inside of us. We turned to the iPad and began playing Diplo’s Riddimentary album while zipping on the Vodka and staring into the fire. The rhythm inside of us began to jingle and soon after some sort of island cultural dancing commenced. My buddy had wrapped his sweater around his head and pranced around the fire like some ritual while enjoying the music and Vodka. At that moment I was in total relaxation, maybe it was the drugs but I was at peace with myself…

I was the first one to wake up; luckily with the fan in our room the bugs couldn’t get to us. I took a shower and brushed my teeth and asked myself if what happened yesterday actually happened. Then I saw the mosquito bites, 32…I then continued to my buddies room, noticing his door is slightly opened, I entered and to my discovery he was gone. Could he had lost all sanity the night prior and swam out into the abyss, no he was sleeping in the car due to the bug infestation in his room. We packed and cleaned everything up, saying our good byes and left in peace. On the ferry ride back, we were fortunate enough to witness the sunset and all the boys were quite, staring seamlessly into the horizon and already missing the cottage: our salvation and haven from society. We did not once thought about hurting one another; we were even frighten to get near the water in the beginning but went for a swim and canoeing anyways. I didn't want to eat the snake nor harm it, I unfortunately didn't get the chance to see any elephants or giraffes nor God but Im sure it could possible if I wanted to. We were still intelligent enough to retract our friend who had an over time sun bath and treated our surroundings with the upmost respect. LSD is definitely not for everyone but I;m glad I had chance to experiment with it and at that moment is when I remember what Kenny Hotz told us randomly one summer night: “Never try acid kids.”

-Calvin Tong