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A Troubled Writer Takes A Pill Which Starts To Change Him, Inside and Out. |
Lyle Brooks, 31, writer in San Francisco sits at his desk as he does every night. What he doesn't know is that tonight will be like no other. Lyle has always had a passion for writing. Throughout school, writing was the only thing he was good at. He was the kid who sat alone at the lunch table with a black eye his father left him for not taking out the trash. Lyle would fill a report card with bad grades, except for one class, Writing. Life for Lyle was never was easy. He never had many friends, any heroes, not anything to ever look forward to. Lyle had a younger sister, Lilly, the only person he loved. Their parents were never really there. They left Lyle to guard his younger sister, home alone, in one of the most dangerous areas in Detroit. The Brooks were poor, they did drugs, drank alcohol, partied, runaways themselves they were young adults by the time Lyle was 6. When Lyle was 15 his younger sister Lilly was struck and killed by a drunken driver. The case was closed as a hit and run. Since then, Lyle started want more out of life, the loss of his sister had more of an positive affect on his life. At 16 Lyle dropped out of school and decided to hitchhike is way out to San Francisco to follow his dream to become a writer. His first year on the west coast was extremely hard. Picture a kid that age digging through the trash, or running off with old ladies purses, just to find his next meal. He would often sleep at bus stops. At 17, he found his first job at Pete's Coffee shop, Lyle stayed in hotels and he wrote, hoping one day he'd sell some of his writing. At Pete's he also met his best friend, Daisy Preston. Daisy came to Pete's everyday for lunch. Then, she was a novice writer who found inspiration at local coffee shops. She'd sit, watch, and brainstorm. In her mind, everything and everyone had potential to a character in her next book. She'd love to sit evaluate people, wondering if the guy who just bought a double shot espresso will go home and become a felon hunting vigilante by night, or if the woman who just got up to go to the bathroom is really going a undercover cop who's next big bust is sitting across the shop. Daisy's favorite character was none other than Lyle. To her, Lyle was a mystery novel. One day, he was just there. He never spoke, he never smiled, he never even made eye contact with Daisy. It took for Daisy to accidentally spill her blazing hot coffee on her dress one day. It was there where the two would finally speak. Daisy could see tell that Lyle wasn't from San Francisco. She could also see that Lyle had been through some difficult experiences in life. She herself had to get up the courage to initiate conversation. Lyle and Daisy spoke everyday since the spill. Years passed, Lyle and Daisy had grown closer, but just as friends. While they both had sold books, Daisy was known as one of the best young writers in the San Francisco area. Lyle made enough money to find himself a hole in the wall apartment, pay some bills, and feed himself. Daisy owned a luxurious condo in one of the best areas in the city. Lyle was never jealous of Daisy and her accomplishments, he was more confused as to why his work never sold. Lyle blamed his past for holding him back. His mind was clouded with bad memories, lonely nights, and broken promises. He describes is life as a horror story, but to anyone else, it's a mystery. He figured it'd be much easier to write about things he related to, but what that really did was make him think about those horrific things even more. Lyle's life became increasingly difficult. As time passed, he and daisy grew apart, Lyle kept writing but never sold anything. He went back to Pete's to work, just to be able to keep a roof over his head. No one knew what was to come of Lyle, not even himself. Here we are, Lyle, 31, back at his desk, staring at the screen, smoking cigarettes, a cup full of straight liquor, and a half full bottle of pain medication with the printed label scratched off. Lyle bangs his hang against the keyboard, upset that he can't get a single word out. He stares at the screen, thinking about the past, thinking about his parents, the missed opportunities. He takes a deep breathe to calm himself. Lyle exits the writing program and brings starts to watch clips of Conan. An ad pops up for a pill called "Release". The pill carries a stimulant that frees the mind of all stress, allowing the mind to focus at more than three times than average. The drug sounds like a myth but Lyle is interested. There's twenty dollars left on his Green Dot card so he uses it to order a one month supply of this medication. Lyle's lays his head back and drifts off. Lyle awakens to a knock at his door. He stumbles to the door, hungover, smelling like booze. He opens the door, no one is there, he notices a package at his feet, he stoops to pick up this unlabeled package, a large leather box wrapped in a long red velvet ribbon. He checks the package for any signs of who sent it or where it came from, he finds nothing. He hears a door slam shut down the hall, Lyle takes a look and sees nothing. He takes a seat, he looks and sees that his bobble-head is moving, he slowly reaches and stops the bouncing head. Lyle sits the package down on his desk. While reaching to untie the ribbon, the phone rings and Lyle answers. |