HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

His head was spinning violently. He could not stand on his own. The whole world was swimming before his eyes as if he was looking through a screen of smoke. He felt that his feet were playing games with him. Every tread seemed to be laborious, with the effort making him sweat. He clamped down the violent urge to throw up and swallowed down the bile that threatened to drown him. The cars that whizzed pass did not make him even blink an eye lid. He felt that he was invincible, except for the revolutions of his head, and even tried to throw some thing at a passing Amby – that was wheezing and sputtering. Later, on retrospection, he would ask to him self, “Why did I take a dig out at that Ambassador?”, it had its own fair bit of problems – like the clogged exhaust, pistons that no longer produced the, escape velocity needed to propel the massive junk of rusting metal forward, or the air horn when in operation, which it seldom did, made a sexagenarian with acute case of Tuberculosis sound like a kitten smitten by a fishbone.

The problem right now at hand, and needed immediate attention was the foul and unmistakable smell, emanating and permeating, fanning out, threatening to jeopardize the whole idea of nasal pleasure. He was not alarmed; he had faced similar situations before, and had come out of every such situation unscathed. There was the local drug store. If it was closed, there was always the bake house by the corner. Only tough task will be to choose between the chewy Wrigley and the sticky Center Fresh. He was nearing his home and he feared that his father and mother would be waiting, without going to bed, for him to show up. But there was always a Plan B. It was nothing but age old trick of pretending to take a pee while your father opened the door and with a resigned air announcing that he was going to sleep, and to help your self to the dinner.

The only single stream of thought that ran through his head screamed bed. Unconsciousness was welcome, but not before a sharp reprimand, "you should never have touched that last shot of Don Julio, after all that fuss about a pint of Jack Daniels!!