Chronic stress, brought on
by the pressures of work and family life,
caused his mind to bend
like hot toffee treacle
and almost break itself in two.
He suffered some form of dissociative amnesia.
A fugue state if you will.
When he "awoke" several days later,
he had no clear memory of the previous 72 hours.
He returned to his wife and children in Germany,
spent a couple of weeks in bed, and sought medical help.
An MRT scan revealed no tumours or organic anomalies.
He went missing again towards the tail-end of 2004.
This time the brief reactive psychosis was not as pronounced.
It felt, to me at least, as more of a cry for help.
He wondered if he might be mad. He was told he wasn't mad.
He described the experience as; "like playing monopoly".
He was still losing the game, but learning from each defeat.
When he vanished again in early 2005, I feared the worst.
This time however, the mental illness was only partly to blame.
This time there was another woman involved.
And yes, this complicated matters somewhat.
He left his wife and children and moved South to Munich.
We didn't speak for many months.
He couldn't face the people he felt he had let down.
I came to accept the fact
that there was a distinct possibility
I might never see my best friend again.
All I ever craved from him was a simple apology.
When that finally came, the floodgates quickly re-opened.
So much so, that I've travelled here to Munich
to celebrate the dawning of the brand new year.
My best friend has offered me a bed for a few of nights on his new leather sofa.
We've been up to the Alps and marvelled at the panorama.
I haven't seen him this happy in years.
Awaiting him, on this the first morning of the year 2007AD,
is a kitchen sink full of Ouzo-fuelled cold vomitus
and the remnants of last night's dirty washing-up.
Thankfully, not a drop of the sick is mine.
I was on the cola and orange Spezi's all night.
Officially the most sober man in The Free State of Bavaria.
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