From the window of my car I already can see some parts of the festival. I’m flashed by all the spectacular colors. Some girls are running around wearing very short pink, yellow and purple colored shirts, screaming and laughing all the time. Now I hear the music blasting, at first, I only feel the bass but as we get closer the music gets louder and I get a real festival feeling. It takes a while to come in but now I’m finally ready and able to see all the bands performing on stage.

While walking through the festival area I see a lot of different people, some are sitting on the grass quietly, some are dancing and screaming being very hyped and some are just walking around not having any plan what they’re doing. But they all are a little weird in my opinion, as if they were in another world. I wonder what is wrong with all these people around me. Are they just drunk? I don’t think so, the festival has just started and it is impossible that all of them got drunk that fast. I’m observing the crowd a little more, when a skinny, smiling boy with curly hair suddenly stands in front of me. I suppose he’s around 20 years old and he seems to be a little out of mind like all the others.

While I’m stuck in my thoughts, he starts talking to me with a very high voice: “Ey Bro you look a bit bored, can I help you out with new stuff?”. Being a little confused I answer: “What do you mean?”, but he just laughs while asking: “Are you serious bro? Whatever you want, LSD, Cocaine, … I have it all. It’s Indian Spirit all here are consuming.” And now I realize that he is right. Everybody does it. Everybody takes drugs. Everybody is on a trip. And I wonder what their reasons are. Is that a new trend on festivals? Or are there other reasons? The guy seems to be a little angry that I didn’t buy something and just turns around and celebrates with his friends. I try to ignore what just happened and to enjoy the music, but I can’t get his words out of my mind. I have to know more about his drug problem and his background, so I try to find him again.

It takes me a while but finally I succeed, there he lays on the ground by himself, holding a bottle of vodka in his hand and looks very helpless. So I walk up to him, trying to help him to get up. He doesn’t really react to anything I say or do so I bring him into my tent that he can get a little nap. I have a bad feeling letting him alone and also, I’m no longer in the mood for partying. After an hour of me thinking too much and him sleeping he wakes up, being completely lost. So I tell him what happened and try helping him to get his memory back.

After a while he is more or less back on track so I ask: “Why do you sell drugs and consume them in that big amount?”. While asking I think if that was a little to offensive and want to take back my question, but before I can say something more, he already starts telling me his story. Maybe he is so open because of the drugs in his body, must be. Why else would you tell a random person all about your past? For a while I just listen to him, not saying word. Because… I’m too shocked to say anything at all.

He tells me all about his horrible childhood and that his mother took drugs when she was pregnant with him, so he was born with a drug addiction. His family is really poor so he grew up in very bad circumstances so no one helped him with his problem, that’s why he takes drugs since he is a little kid and so his life went on with a drug addiction. In the middle of his story a friend of the guy comes up and takes him away from me so I don’t get to hear the rest of his story, but what I have heard was already too much for me. Having fun at the festival is now impossible for me so I decide to leave earlier and drive home.

That was an experience I will never forget. I probably should be so thankful that I was raised up without any drugs and in great circumstances…
(This short - story is based on true experiences)