He did not seem to be able to sleep, however. Tiredly he stared at the ceiling. He could still faintly see ribbons of color twirling and dancing across the white background. His attention was slowly being centered on the ache in his foot. He’d have to do something about that. Despite the obvious hurt, the pain confronted him with an even scarier truth. At least the pain made him feel something.
  Lately the world around him had been looking … dull. The sky appeared less blue. Food had lost it’s taste. Conversations he had would fall silent. He barely felt alive until the sun would finally set and he could pick up a glass again. How long had this been going on? He couldn’t remember.
His attention was returned to the throbbing pain in his heel. He really needed to do something about that. Trying to put as little weight on his hurt foot as possible he walked to the supply closet to get something to bind his wound. As he opened the medicine kit, he found that they were out of bandages. Had Bill neglected to buy new ones? Again? Levi was hit by another flash of pain.
  No, he realized, this is not the life I want to live. He had always thought his youth in the countryside boring. He had moved here for the liveliness of the city. For the excitement. After his housemates had pushed him to join them for drinks for several weeks, he had started drinking more and more. A while later the dullness had started. He realized now that his days had been happier before he came here. Only the nights were any kind of exciting. He regretted moving into this house.
  But he couldn’t really blame it on his housemates. He would have liked to, it would have been so easy. If the problem were his housemates, he could simply leave, look for a different place to live and be done with it. The painful truth that struck him was that the real problem had been there for way longer. It had been the reason he moved here in the first place, the reason he was looking for that excitement. He winced as another flash of pain shot through his foot. Too hard to think about, just focus on your wound.
  His head was still pounding. He’d probably have to ask the neighbours if they had any bandages. He slowly made his way to the front door. There were still some open bottles on the table. In the back of his mind he could hear the voice. A small drink would surely help against the pain. His mouth felt dry. The wine was calling to him, a hint of its sweetness already on his tongue, pleading for more.
  He pulled himself away from the table. He could not go on like this, or he was sure it would spiral downward even more. It really was time to swallow his pride. Levi had ignored the issue for long enough. Today would be a turning point. Today he would work towards improving his life. Today he would get help. He picked up his phone.