by Prometheus
"In-a-gadda-da-vida-baaaaaabbbyyyyyyy..." Mick Harrison sang very loudly, and very off-key, staring intently at a nonexistent speck on the ceiling that was performing sign language for the hearing impaired. "...don't ya think that I love yoooouuuuuu..."
"You drive me craaaaaaazy..." Lance Lorenzo interlaced his own lyrics, the empty bag of fish sticks keeping a perfect rythmic percussion in a band made up of three lamps and a dirty T-shirt. "...and it feeeeeeels so riiiiiight..."
"If I had a million dollars..." Mick suddenly changed songs, trying to keep up with the small blue jar of Jell-o, writing a movie critique, which was fervently chasing a giggling beam of light.
"If I haaaaad a miiiiillion dollaaaarssss..." Lance began singing a higher-octave back-up, tripping the beam of light out of pure malice.
"...I'd buy you a house..." Mick continued, beginning to snap his fingers to the beat, lying flat back on the floor.
"I'd buy you furniture for your house..." Lance began tapping his feet, slumped in the couch.
"When somebody loves you..."
Mick and Lance immediately turned toward the baritone voice coming from the recliner. A tall, bald man sat there, fingers steepled, his foot tapping to a completely different rhythm.
"...let somebody love you..."
Suddenly, all three boomed in a perfect harmony.
"...AAAALLLLLL THE WAY..."
Mick sang, "...through good and bad times..."
Lance sang, "...with rain and sunshine..."
Turkish Stringfellow sang, "AAAALLLL the way..."
Turkish continued to hum, Mick turning toward Lance with a wide smile. "DUDE! This is some goooooood shit!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah... I've never joint-hallucinated with anyone before."
They suddenly broke off, jumping back into perfect timing.
"AAAALLLLLL THE WAY!"
Mick began laughing, Lance following with a wide, glassy-eyed chuckle. "Man, you are too cool!" Mick began. "Frankie-baby's the bomb!"
"Yo," Lance replied with a mock fist gesture.
"Thank you." Mick bowed toward him.
"Don't thank me, man... thank Mr. Clean over there," he replied. "He's the one keeping the beat."
All three sang, "AAAAALLLLL THE WAY!"
"Dude, I wish you were real," Mick said toward Turkish, who was still smiling and humming.
"Life is only as real as you make it," Turkish replied, still studying these two men.
He suddenly gained a very serious expression as he looked at Mick. Shaking his head a bit and blinking a few times, he leaned in closer to the man, obviously fascinated. "You have... an after-image," he spoke.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Mick said nodding and blinking as well. "I'm getting some cool-ass tracers off you, as well."
"Yeah..." Lance cooed, "...that head of yours is SO shiny..."
Turkish sat back, realizing he would get nowhere with these two right now. "My name is Turkish Stringfellow," he finally said.
"Oh..." Mick straightened up a bit. "...I'm Mick Harrison. This is Lance Lorenzo."
"Hey," Lance said, nodding.
Mick turned to Lance. "Man, I've never met a hallucination with a name!" Mick said with awe.
"And what a name!" Lance replied, running his fingers through a purple sea.
Stringfellow smiled. "And, like all hallucinations, you will find..." he began, holding up a single finger, "...that I was never here in the first place."
He calmly stood up, walking toward the door.
"Damn, he's tall," Mick breathed.
"Yeah... fucking NBA-style," Lance said, nodding.
Turkish stopped with a frown, looking back at the two. "Did... you understand what I said?" he asked.
"Yeah, but, hell, it'll be a few hours before we come down, and you go into stored memory for a future acid-flashback... stick around..." Mick said, shrugging as he dipped his toes into Styrofoam honey.
"Yeah! We can do an 'N Sync song together," Lance joined in.
"Dude! I'm not THAT fucked up..." Mick said, turning toward him.
"Come on! The 'Sync is where it is AT!"
The two began arguing, while Turkish stood for a moment, looking at the lone finger he had held up. "Hmmmm... hallucinatory states have never been your strong point, have they?" he asked his finger.
Then, without another word, he slipped back into the hallway.