(a poem about alcohol)

Once, there was a magical bottle of glass. Oh, it could give you happiness, a sense of relief, make you forget the pain, or make the pain easier to bear...

"BUT! At a cost, fragile little human.

You must keep consuming me,

and keep consuming me.

Or the PAIN will come back.

The reality of life will scare you,

scream at you in your head!

You don't want that, do you?

You're weak! Let me help you...

Just one more sip,

one more shot,

one more beer,

a few more bottles.

Look at your friends, they're drinking me too,

so why shouldn't you?

Oh, I'll give you liquid courage,

the confidence of 100 men!

You'll dance without a care,

without a worry in the world.

You might stumble a little,

maybe fall—heh, heh—but who cares?

I'll give you more friends.

You don't like being alone, do you?"

"But my body," said the fragile little human.

"You'll be fine!

Don't you see how much I give you?" said the bottle.

"But when I don't drink... it hurts..."

The bottle yelled aggressively "That's why you

must keep consuming me! I told you, didn't I ?!"

"But what about the 'things'—

you know, the 'bad things'—that happen when I keep drinking?"

asked the fragile little human,

eyes wide, innocent as a duckling.

"SO WHAT?!"

"So what if you passed out with your mouth open?

Only a few flies crawled down your throat.

It wasn’t my fault—it was yours!”

“So what if you smell like a rotten rat,

It wasn't me who pissed his pants”

"So what if your kids hate you when you drink?

They're a waste anyway, those little pricks”

"So what if you slapped your wife once or twice? You said sorry. She’ll be fine!"

"So what if you were drinking and driving?

Didn't it feel like you were flying?

But opps! You killed a family of little two? Oh, you fool, you dumb fool!”

"So what if you’ll die?

Everybody dies! You’re not going to blame me, are you? You fool”

“Because I’m just a bottle, and you made the choice… you fool”

—Akhil