The Warning
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams and Premonitions
By Mark Rickerby

I sought my soul, but my soul I could not see. I sought my God, but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three.
~William Blake

My brother Paul started out in life with great potential. He was a gifted storyteller and an amazing athlete. I idolized him and followed him everywhere. We got along very well until he became a teenager. He changed drastically and I couldn’t understand why.

It was 1973 when he turned thirteen, and our Southern California neighborhood was awash in illicit drugs — mostly marijuana, but also harder drugs like LSD. Paul became a stranger to me, and I became an annoyance to him and his friends. I internalized this rejection until I realized they didn’t want me around in case I “finked” on them about their drug use. (Keep reading)