36 Comments

"Fugie was gone, I was lost, and by this time I was getting cold and running out of gas, so I sat down on the ground." This really feels like no man's land. The writing is de puta madre, as they say in your adopted country.

Expand full comment

¡Gracias Señor! :)

Expand full comment

I think one of the testaments to just how good this is is that I tend to forget that Lamb isn’t a real human. As in someone I can tell about my first trip. Thank you for sharing more of this character I’ve come to adore.

Expand full comment

Thank you Holly - I have also come to think of Lamb as a very real person, and that's one of the best parts of writing fiction when that happens. I sense a technicolor tea party on our horizon...🩷💛🧡❤️

Expand full comment

This was a fantastic description of a bad trip, Troy! (Not that I would know anything about such things...)

I especially liked these two lines:

“it all felt … chewy?”

“I don’t know what we were listening to, but it was like music was invented to swallow me up”

Wonderful stuff!

Also, congratulations on getting your piece published! That’s awesome :)

Expand full comment

Thank you Michael! I feel like a little boilerplate is in order: 'This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ' 🤪😘

Expand full comment

Hahaha of course, of course. 🙃

Expand full comment

Having been a Deadhead in the early 90s I knew some people who took off and never came back... your letter put me right back there.

Congrats on your short story publication!

Expand full comment

Thanks Andrea! Knew a woman who had a bad trip at a Dead show and said she was convinced Garcia was Satan... 👿👹💀

Expand full comment

Lamb! Such a wonderful character with his flaws and his fears. I like the inclusion of the 'lost art' of letter writing to friends. It not only creates connection in the moment but an archive to go back to.

Expand full comment

It's funny you say that: I have stacks and stacks of letters from people up through the early/mid-90s, and then nothing - I forgot what an earnest correspondent I was until we were cleaning/clearing out to move to Spain, and they all made the cut for their berth in 1 of the 10 boxes of stuff we shipped over... Thanks Kate!!

Expand full comment

So happy they made the cut! One friend from school and I still write the occasional letter ☺️

Expand full comment

Screw Fugie, tear him a new one. Don't do drugs kids, not even Spice.

Also, this happens and will continue to happen: "Remember that time Jeff Hiller was laughing so hard in his room, and we all went in to see what was going on and he just looked at us and laughed even harder? When he finally could talk again he said it was like a big cosmic joke and he finally got it."

Expand full comment

The Spice must flow! Preferably not in our bloodstreams! ;)

Expand full comment

Then there's the digital spice... 😈

Expand full comment

Electro-crack! Gimmee! 🤪

Expand full comment

Oh, sweet Lamb. Having had my fair share of horrific hallucinogenic experiences this only served to deepen my love for him. That sense of 'this is it, this is my permanent state' is so nauseating--it's a wonder I went back so consistently! Thank you, Troy. I really do cherish every snippet of Lamb's life.

Expand full comment

Thank you my dear, I think I read in a comment where you mentioned your bad trips - I've heard so many people's stories about the fear and alienation that can sometimes happen, it's quite frightening. And nowadays with fentanyl lurking everywhere - well, just glad to say I'm sober and lived to tell my tales. 👻🕊️

Expand full comment

Poor Lamb...never felt enticed to try any drugs, but great cautionary tale. I love the cover for The Crier, Troy, congratulations to you!🥳💛🐝

Expand full comment

Thank you Mya! Good for you - to never have been tempted is the best and most fortunate outcome... 💛🐝🖤

Expand full comment

Can't wait to read the crier!

Also, Lamb's acid trip brought back memories. Don't do acid with a Fugie!

Expand full comment

yeah, fuck fugie! 😠

Expand full comment

Congrats on the upcoming piece, Troy. Looking forward to that!

Another superb piece of Lamb's tale here. Glad he got out of that (expertly described) bad trip!

Expand full comment

Thanks Nathan! Hope you enjoy "The Crier"...!

Expand full comment

I'm sure I will!

Expand full comment

I look forward to reading The Crier tomorrow, congratulations Troy!

I immediately got alarmed when I saw the police car in the image for this installment so I'm glad Lamb was relatively ok and was streaking around campus like so many CalBerkley students used to do! In fact, it was right around that neighborhood, downtown SF actually, that I had my last acid trip. Thankfully most of mine were quite good but I admit that I often wonder how smart I would have been if I hadn't destroyed so many brain cells on those trips.

Expand full comment

Donna Martin, (almost) super genius 🤣 This was inspired by a host of Berkeley bad acid trips and other urban legends - meanwhile, there used to be this guy we called The Caterpillar who would take acid, dress up all crazy, and sit on top of a garbage can downtown SF waving at all the normies on their way to work - you might have seen him at some point... 🐛

Thank you my dear! 💛

Expand full comment

Lamb just torpedoed any chance I might try acid in my lifetime. Yikes! Another great episode Troy.

Expand full comment

haha Probably not a bad thing, what with all the fentanyl-laced concoctions nowadays... Even back in the day it used to be laced with meth... :( Thanks Ben!

Expand full comment

Daha ditto.

Always been an uncertain option for these reasons, despite the curiosity.

Expand full comment

Great announcement and post, Troy. Can’t wait for your fairy tale to go live tomorrow. Thank you for all the kind words.

Expand full comment

You're very welcome Winston, and thank YOU!

Expand full comment

Yikes!

Expand full comment

Yikes is right! xo

Expand full comment

Another great installment, Troy! Lamb grows on you...

Expand full comment

Thanks Martine - he's an odd duck, for a lamb... ;)

Expand full comment