There is something special about a campfire, something that makes us look into ourselves, look into our souls and find out who we really are. Drinking around a campfire is a ritual as old as drinking itself, granted it has served multiple purposes over the years, the simple fact remains that even if you only have the experience once it is one that you will remember for your entire life.
The first time I ever drank I was a young one, a novice ignorant about the art of drinking and even more ignorant about the world. Sitting around the campfire with a relative who was somewhat weathered to say the least, he had been doing this since he was a child and not only knew the ways of the world but the ways of drinking. A bright-eyed young lad like myself was no match for his drinking ability, I should have been in the same state let alone allowed to drink from the golden goblet of liquor that was his bottle of rum.
The first sip as you can imagine was a difficult one, before this time I had never tasted anything like that liquid that was crawling slowly down my throat burning every inch of the way. I had lived a sheltered life and, the harshest thing I tasted previous to this may have been a drink of two or cider that had been left out to long. This was a turning point in my life, not only because of the alcohol slowly making its way into my stomach but, also because the fire burned bright. The flames of hell seemed to be glowing in the sky as it was glowing in my chest, the burning felt good though, and it is a feeling unlike any other. The two flames they seemed to burn simultaneously together like brethren and it made the experience a much more memorable one.
The flames of a campfire seem to bring out the very best in the experience of drinking. The burning and smell of wood seem to make for one another, almost as if they entered this plane of existence at precisely the same moment. They are each glorious on there own but there true potency comes out when paired with one another. Sipping from a bottle of bourbon and looking into the flames you begin to understand your existence a little bit more. You begin to understand why you as a human are here, why each person is here is not something I can answer, it is not something anyone can answer. You would have to look into your own soul to find the answer to that prolific question and nothing opens the human gates to the inner self like a campfire and, nothing makes a person more uninhibited more honest then alcohol, a match made in heaven.
Sitting around the beast of a fire watching the smoke roll high into the air, thick and dark, much like the liquid that I was sipping from. Passing the bottle to my new found drinking buddy we began speaking to one another. Making an attempt not to say anything foolish I began simply listening to what he said, his words are that of a wise man whom has had the pleasure of having much more alcohol pass over his lips then I ever will. He spoke in a soft toned voice only putting enthusiasm in every few sentences, much like the fire itself. He did not sputter or mix his words but it seemed every now and then he would put emphasis on a word, enough to drive the word home, as he spoke in his wise way it seemed as though the fire moved along with his speech. You can see the flames bounce and dance with the movement of his mouth. It is then that everything settles down, the initial consumption of alcohol has taken its icy hot grip over your body and you slowly slink back onto the ground your head floating like a gentle butterfly on a calm summer day, a perfect contrast for the flames of hell that burn before you. Heaven and Hell, this is what the first drink at a campfire is, one cannot exist without the other just as this feeling cannot exist without the fire raging in front of you. Slowly your body sinks down and you begin to think to yourself.
The thoughts that cross your mind at this point are not that of madness, nor are they completely sane, they are the thoughts of an emerging madman not yet crossing over that thin line from sane to insane. Your thoughts at this points are just that, they are your true thoughts as pure and heartfelt as you can get, nothing holds them back, you are not completely consumed by the alcohol so it is not in command you are very much on control not letting the alcohol take you into its deep dark realm, but rather letting it wash over you and open the light into your soul a light illuminated by the males that rage in front of you. You begin to slowly slip into the grip, not yet though. Every waking second seems like an hour and the thoughts come gushing out, you want to control them all but you dont have the ability it is then you look over, and you see him, is it, the devil?
What is seen when you look over through the flames is a man. Sitting there a drinking the rum slowly almost as thought it comes natural to him. You catch a glimpse of his eyes and see nothing, no happiness, no sadness, and no remorse for past sins. There is nothing there. The bottle is close to gone. Close to finished, but has not the night just begun. Are the flames dying down already, is this wonderful experience coming to an end, you turn to the angelic evil that stands across from you, through the raging flames of hell, onto the other side, onto heaven and what do you see when you look into his eyes. You see nothing, nothing at all, this night is not over nor has it truly begun. This drinking, these flames they transcend time it. They pierce through the realm we mortals know as reality. In the beginning there was only flame, and in the end flame is all there shall be.
It is here that one begins to realize that he has control. It is here you realize what has happened. You allowed the alcohol to take its grip unto you. Is there no escape, franticly thrashing about will get you nowhere. You must accept it, not as an incarnation of evil but part of yourself, part of your humanity. It is truly part of who you are do you realize this? You beging to think to yourself this is not an evil feeling. This is not a horrid thought that crosses your mind at this very instant. It is what it is, not evil or good but somewhere in between somewhere in the limbo known as your soul. Ha you think you have figured it all out, this mystery that this world is encased in, this riddle wrapped enigma known as life, yes you have the answer. And then you look through those flames.
You see him. Just a shadow now. Looking at you with a smile on his face. No dialogue between you two, how could you speak to him. You know he is an angel and you could never speak a word to the hellish figure. You simply look at him, into his blank stare; his piercing reflective stare that stares into nothingness that is spearing your soul. Screaming, that is the first thing comes to mind, you wish to scream, I wish to scream. Yell as loud possible. Nothing comes out. Nothing but a chuckle. A pathetic chuckle not even able to drown outs the low cackle of crackling embers. This is when you realize to yourself that the flames of hell are lowering themselves. Like gates being lowered to let you through.
The bottle had been drained of its contents long ago, half removed because of you and half because of that purely evil incarnation of holiness. Slowly you begin to sink into the stages far beyond the grip, beyond the stages of light and dark, beyond heaven and hell you have transcended such labels, you fell as though you are on the level of the dark man, it is at that moment that your entire reality is torn down and turned into firewood. One slow smile from the dark man, four words shatter everything you think you know and remove you from this plane of limbo that you stand on. “Well that’s about it” huh what do you mean that's about it. Are you going to do your deed, will you finish me with some horrific sinister dark power you received from god himself? These are your thoughts but you could never say them out loud. You could never reveal them to the dark man.
Lying down you begin to understand what and why you are here. It is not to stop this sinister fool why there is no chance of that, he is after all a powerful being and you, what are you. You are nothing your existence isn't even real anymore. You have succumbed to the evil grip that holds you now. “Ha! Ha!” Those are the only words you can muster. The dark man peers over you. Looking down upon you. “Are you okay man, its been a long night and its your first time, are you sic? Do you want some help? Can you stand?” These questions being flung at you at thousands of miles per second, faster then light itself, making it much quicker then any human can respond you begin to stand. With help from the dark man, standing slowly I begin to look into his eyes. They are dark and cold like hell itself, but deep down you see something you see a bit of light, a contrast that can only be seen because of flames raging around you, the flames of hell, the flames that light everything.
Slowly you begin to look around you, the atmosphere has changed greatly, the cold dryness that began the night has given away to warm humidity, everything that is, is not. This is it I begin to think. This is the darkness that surrounds us. The dark man and you begin to walk forward. Everything seems to be turning in opposite directions all at the same time, but the dark man with his inhuman strength.... Then it hits you he is no angel of hell, or devil from above he is...human like you, he could easily be defeated with the flames that burn eternally. It is then you look the coals and embers in sight now. It seems the fire has calmed down, it seems the fire has died.


Authors note: This story represents the contrast between heaven and hell and the thin line that separates good and evil, these are obviously very skewed boundaries and they become even less visible when we are drunk we actually begin to understand that one can actually be the same as the other, and the dark man can be both good and evil, but the dark man can also be the evil/good inside of us waiting to be released, and as we let down our boundaries get weaker and slip into the grip the dark man grows inside us waiting to be released, for some that would be a good the dark man would be light but for some, evil and hell can be released, you must know who you are good or bad, because releasing the dark man without knowledge can lead to dire problems.

Man Next Gen everytime I think you cant get any deeper, you do, wow.