Free Postcards From the Edge by Carrie Fisher Page B

the creeps. Where’s my knife? There we go, there we go.
    “(sniff) Ahh. (sniff) Aaahh:” What the hell, one more. “(sniff) Mmmmhh! (sniff) Ahh! (sniff) (sniff)”
    I’m glad no one can see me. They’d think I was quite the pig. Okay, the idea’s forming in my mind. There’s this guy who doesn’t normally take that much drugs, and he’s spending the evening with some friends from school or something and he gets in this really good mood and they tell him to try some Ecstasy and he does and he gets in this great mood and they talk him into trying heroin and he ends up in a rehab where he does not belong. But when he gets there he meets all these incredible people, like Carl-he’d make a good character for a movie. He was a bad one for real life, but a lot of those people I hated in the clinic were great movie characters. Oooh, this is the thing to write with. Hell, a lot of people write with drugs. I heard Lewis Carroll wrote all of Through the Looking Glass on mushrooms, and Edgar Allan Poe was a laudanum freak. Freud, Sherlock Holmes … It’s so good to be out of the hospital, out of the movies, just out. I’m out.
    “(sniff) (sniff)”
    My ear squeaked. I wonder if … There’s that drip in the back of my throat. Great … I’m feeling real edgy, though, I don’t think it’s the blow, this is good blow, but I don’t want to drive anymore. 1 feel cooped up in this car. I should … I know. Why go to the desert? Fuck it. I’ll check into the Ramada Inn. They probably have some writing paper and a pen, and I’ll start to outline this idea. Ramada Inn. I pass this place a lot, and I’ve always wondered … Let me just do a couple of hits to get me to the room.
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    POSTCARDS from the EDGE
    “(sniff) (sniff) (sniff) (sniff) Ooooww!”
    Shit, I’ve gotta chop this when I get upstairs, it’s really chunky. “(sniff)”
    Okay, I think I’m cool. All right. Go in …
    “Yeah, uh, hi. I’d like a room for two or three nights. No, I … No luggage, just this … Some groceries. Yeah, I eat special foods:” None of your fuckin’ business, man.
    “Is there a pool here? Oh, great. Great:”
    That’ll be nice, I’ll get some color. This is perfect, this is ,perfect. I’ll do some writing, I’ll do some swimming, I’ll lose some weight … I’m sweating. God, it’s hot in this lobby.
    “No, I don’t need the bellboy. Just … What floor? Eight? Great:” Jesus, they do look at you weird if you don’t have luggage. But I do have luggage. I have my beautiful blushing white bride here. Oooh, my hand is shaking, I wonder what that … I must be starved. I’m not hungry, but … I’ll order something from room service when I get upstairs. Christ, where’s the fucking elevator? Jesus …
    “No, I’m fine. Here, let me sign for this. Let’s see, six Long Island iced teas, two Smirnoffs, hamburger, French fries, and cake. Yeah, great. Thanks. No, don’t come back. I’ll put the tray in the hall. No, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m just … I have a little flu. Thanks:”
    Who did that guy think he was, prying into my life? Get him off of me. Yeccch, look at that burger, it’s alive. And that soggy bun, those greasy fries. This is an American hotel, you’d think they’d at least be able to …
    I’m getting very jumpy. Very, very jumpy. This food made me very tense. I should write. I should chop a couple of lines and then really get down to work. Why can’t there be a dimmer in this room? I feel like I’m in the dentist’s office. Let me have some of this drink … That’s what I needed. Obviously I needed to have a little drink. And now a nice fat line, and then down to work.
    “(sniff) Ouch! (sniff) Owww!”
    Fucking fuck! There’s cut in this, I know it! I’ll put some under my tongue. I wish someone was here to blow it into the back of my
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C A R R I EF I S HER
    throat, but then I’d have to talk to them. Okay, where’s that paper? Okay, here we go.
    I wonder if they have …