I Wonder if God Takes Sertraline?

Lariam

Adder walked into the shop, a sort of deli type place; you know the type, the ones with food on display in glass counters. Adder wasn't alone and there were people with him, probably other volunteers, but he couldn't see their faces. His belly was insatiably hungry, so he took a glance at what was on offer. Expecting something edible, Adder was surprised to see hollowed-out potatoes, their guts filled with multi-coloured florescent rice. Feeling like a 19th-century Irish man on acid, Adder took a step back. That's when he woke.

Malaria kills over a million people each year. To put it into perspective, that is one third the population of Wales. Lariam tablets stop that, but it also gives you the type of night thoughts that Jeffrey Dahmer's and Myria Hindley's love child would be proud of. One hot afternoon, while drinking coke in the hotel and smoking dubious amounts of menthols, Adder met a South African by the name of Dave. He told me that he had the worst time on the drug. "It was like poison," he said, and he ended up in a hospital with his hair falling out. The wily man had cut his worth in the South African army, fighting in the Namibian war of 89.  Adder wondered if some of those issues Dave spoke of were due to post-traumatic stress. Adder wondered what it would  be like to kill a man? He came relatively close to joining the army once. Well, not really. Truth be told he walked into their recruiting office in Swansea and spoke to the man there. He was eager to sign me up, but I never went back on account of the other hopeful recruits in the office at the time. Probably for the best after speaking to Dave.

That night Adder popped my poison and fell asleep.