This was the time of the college spring break. There was a musical festival. Everybody from all the colleges and universities were going to gather and come together. We were in the first flush of youth and politically idealistic and not having really tasted ground realities. We were living under the planet of no fear. Life seemed wonderful through our rose tinted glasses. Reality seemed miles away and none of us ever thought about what the future would hold for us. We never thought about anything going wrong. We could take all the possible risks in life but the fact that we were young and naïve never occurred to us.

The fact that death doesn’t knock at one’s door with any warning or selects its prey according to age did not strike us. Death was something that we had never contemplated or ever thought about. The music fest was in full swing. Drugs were being peddled out in the open. There was no one to check this. This was not the first time that for us. Before the exams, we used to all do stay awake all night to study and at that time drugs were a regular habit to help us keep awake. These drugs helped us pass through the days.

It was in the midst of the music fest that Steve started having convulsions. He already had a history of being epileptic so no one thought much about it. No one thought much about it, and he was whisked off to the hospital. Our revelry carried on unmindful of what news awaited us. It was approximately twelve hours later when someone noticed that Eric had not woken up from his slumber. Catherine was the first one to notice Eric, and that he seemed to pale to be normal.

Upon shouting for help a doctor nearby was summoned. He started the resuscitation immediately, but unfortunately it was too late. The autopsy and post mortem report showed that it was an overdose of coke, which the strongest stimulant is known to mankind. Cocaine is seventy times stronger than a cup of coffee. Eric had already had a heart condition. We all were tested for drugs and kept under state observation. The night in the cell I felt as though there were bugs crawling under my skin. I began to feel feverish and cold at the same time. The first break of dawn when Eric’s family came to claim his body the reality was like a jolt to all of us. We realized that the state sentenced us to community service and rehab to ensure we stay drug free.