What’s the Difference Between Hallucinations and Creative Writing?

What’s the difference between hallucinations and creative writing?

Maggie Fazekas

The curtain lifts, the lights flickering on slowly while a faint melody begins to play. A small bedroom with a bathroom. The rest of the stage shows a house, dim. An empty kitchen with a door outside. Our main character stands in front of the bathroom mirror, staring sullenly at his expression.
Pacman sighs, turning away from his reflection. It taunts him mercilessly as he obeys the call of the startup music. Back to the ol’ grind. He walks out of his bedroom and [Image: Pac-Man eating Pac-Dots]

[Image: Pac-Man eating Pac-Dots] down the stairs. The house is silent. In the kitchen he grabs his backpack and walks out the door. There will be no breakfast today. His stomach gurgles but he pushes on. The harsh morning light blinds him as he blinks away the sunspots.
The lights dim while the stage shifts for the next set. Ghosts walk to their designated positions and freeze.
They fill the stage: Orange, Red, Pink, and Light Blue.

[Image: Orange, Red, Pink, and Light Blue ghosts]

The lights rise, forcing the show to go on. The new backdrop paints the scene as a bright street in a cheery suburban neighborhood. The ghosts spring to life. They exchange quaint sentiments of small talk with smiles on their cryptic, happy faces.

[Image: Pac-Dots] White dots float in a linear pattern through the stage [Image: Pac-Dots]
The music quiets— the game has begun.

Pacman enters the street. He does not look at anyone else. He does not express merry “Good Mornings!” and “How do you do’s?” He feels everyone’s gaze on him. He does not look at them. He is the only Pacman; he is the outsider. Instead he just follows the lines of dots starting [Image: Pac-Man eating Pac-Dots] at his door and c [Image: Pac-Dot] o [Image: Pac-Dot] n [Image: Pac-Dot] t [Image: Pac-Dot] I [Image: Pac-Dot] n [Image: Pac-Dot] u [Image: Pac-Dot] I [Image: Pac-Dot] n [Image: Pac-Dot] g down the street. Just like every morning.
The ghosts march ahead of him in straight lines.

[Image: Pac-Man eating Pac-Dot, Orange, Red, Pink, and Light Blue ghosts]

Everyone is walking in sync except Pacman. Everyone is smiling but Pacman is not. The dots in his stomach start to churn as he walks up the school steps, just like every morning. Pacman pushes open the front doors, takes a deep breath, and steps inside.

Beginning in 3…2… [Image: Pac-Man]

The lights are flickering sporadically. A lightbulb bursts with a crack, one after another. The music which could barely be heard before is now blasting at full volume. The current backdrop is ripped off the stage with a screech and replaced by one depicting a school, no, a maze, with bright blue walls. The only thing unchanged are the floating circles.

[Image: Pac-Man] Pacman is frozen. Sweat drips down, his strange, circular, cheese roll shaped body. His eyes dart all over. Where are they? Pacman takes a forced step forward. The path sits before him [Image: Pac-Man eating four Pac-Dots] the path he must always follow. He gulps [Image: Pac-Man eating three Pac-Dots] up the first circle, [Image: Pac-Man eating two Pac-Dots] then the next, following them around a corner. Pacman stops. The hallways are suddenly silent. Everyone has disappeared. A single loose leaf piece of paper flutters to the ground. In front of him stands four large ghosts: Clyde, the Orange [Image: Ghost] Ghost; Blinky, the Red [Image: Ghost] Ghost; Pinky, the Pink [Image: Ghost] Ghost; Inky, the Blue [Image: Ghost] ghost.
Clyde: “Look who it is, gang, right on schedule. Any last words before we begin the game?”

Clyde is the gang leader. He’s the only one with a name that doesn’t rhyme. His voice is a menacing drawl, possibly due to the lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth. The product greasing Clyde’s hair wafts over Pacman. It smells like oppression and toxic chemicals. That and the cigarette smoke stuck to his leather jacket twist in Pacman’s nose. He represses the urge to cough.

The rest of the gang giggles. Subordinate sheep. Pacman eyes the other greasers. Pinky leans against a locker, combing his hair. Inky’s fixing up her makeup in a compact mirror. She puckers her lips before blowing an invisible kiss. Blinky sidles up to Clyde—dressed raunchily, a crop top with incredibly tight black pants. Clyde wraps his arm around her. Blinky snaps her gum, popping a large bubble between her bright, red lips.

Pacman says nothing. Clyde smirks, throwing his cigarette down and stomping it out with the sole of his black high top converse.

Clyde: “Get him.”

Clyde’s gang jumps into motion, sc [Image: Pac-Dot, Blue Ghost, Pac-Dot] at [Image: Pac-Dot, Pick Ghost, Pac-Dot] te [Image: Pac-Dot, Red Ghost, Pac-Dot] ri [Image: Pac-Dot, Orange Ghost, Pac-Dot] ng in different directions. With a flash, Pacman’s [Image: Pac-Man] off. He knows the rules of the game. Get all the dots and you win. Pacman follows the dots down the next hallway, gobbling them up as fast as he can.

Wocka wocka wocka [Image: Pac-Man eating eight Pac-Dots]

Pacman sees a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. 9 He’s spotted him. Pinky lets out a whoop, hollering. He’s alerting the other ghosts to Pacman’s location (After all, ghosts are known pack hunters, as vicious as velociraptors).

Pacman quickens his pace. He turns left, right, left again into a small hallway.

Eat! Eat! Eat! Gotta lose Them

[Image: Blue Ghost] appears in front of him. Fuck. Pacman swerves into the nearest side hall. The two [Image: Blue Ghost] [Image: Pink Ghost] are right behind him. Pacman forces himself to swallow more 2 2 2 dots, gagging against them. Only two trails of dots left. Pacman can either turn right or continue on straight. Pacman reaches the turn [Image: Pac-Man] but [Image: Red Ghost] is there, blocking him off. There’s only one way out.

A sole line of [Image: Pac-Man eating four Pac-Dots] spread before him, beckoning him home like a lighthouse in a storm. Pacman races [Image: Pac-Man eating three Pac-Dots] down the hallway; Blinky, Pinky, Inky right on his tail. I can make it! Just as the sweet taste of victory fills his mouth, tasting of pop-rocks, of all things, [Image: Orange Ghost] steps out in front of him. No! Pacman care[Image: Pac-Man eating two Pac-Dots]ens to a halt, panting heavily. He swi[Image: Pac-Dot, Ghost, Pac-Dot]vels around, looking for an escape. There is none. The four ghosts a [Image: Pac-Dot, Ghost, Pac-Dot] d[Image: Pac-Dot, Orange Ghost, Pac-Dot] v [Image: Pac-Dot, Red Ghost, Pac-Dot] a [Image: Pac-Dot, Pink , Pac-Dot] n [Image: Pac-Dot, Blue Ghost, Pac-Dot] ce slowly. They know they’ve got him, those smiles still pasted on their faces.

Clyde: “Give it up, Pacman. You’ll never win.”

Pacman stares blankly at him. His eyes are fixated on the unreachable dots floating behind Clyde.

Clyde: “What, too dumb to even understand what I’m saying?”

They cackle maliciously. Pacman continues to stare. The music swells, thirsty for the kill. All four ghosts hold knives in their hands.

Clyde: “This is the way it’s always going to end, Pacman. There will always be a winner, and in your case, a loser.”

Pacman pulls his backpack off his shoulders. He unzips it. He pulls out a large, clear dot, much bigger than all the rest. It glows, lit by the crackling lightning strikes contained within. [Image: Pac-Man eating one Pac-Dot]

The gang stops. The smile drops from Clyde’s face.

Clyde: “Pacman, Don’t you even—”

Pacman pops it into his mouth. There’s a blinding flash—thunder decimates the gang’s eardrums, leaving them with the tangy taste of electricity upon their tongues. They seize as lightning flows through them. The hallway clears. All four ghost are painted dark blue.

Clyde: “Fuck.”

This time it’s the ghosts that run. [Image: Pac-Man] chases after [Image: Ghost], [Image: Ghost], and [Image: Ghost]. The three of them push against each other, all trying to get ahead. But where they have numbers Pacman has speed.

Pacman [Image: Pac-Man] catches Pinky [Image: Ghost] first. He opens his mouth. Inside are razor sharp teeth, lethally pointed. Pacman bites into Pinky with a snap of his jaws and throws him crippled to the floor. He rips off a chunk of Pinky’s skin. It rips as easily as paper, leaving jagged flaps of pink skin hanging over the missing chunk. Pinky screams as his blood paints the walls.

He stares down in horror as his intestines slither out. They slide out onto the floor with a satisfying plop. Pinky tries to hold his organs in but it’s useless. Blood and guts pour out between his fingers. He desperately grapples at them. He almost catches his spleen on its way out but he fumbles and drops it. He gives up on saving his organs and puts all his effort into trying to drag himself forward. But the floor is coated in blood, making it rather slippery. All Pinky can do is slip-n-slide in his own plasma as Pacman opens wide and swallows him with a gulp. He’s still alive as Pacman’s teeth rip him to shreds, Pacman’s jaws breaking his bones into tiny pieces. Finished, Pacman licks his lips.

Pacman lulls his tongue out like a lizard, tasting the air. Inky and Blinky haven’t gotten far. He quickly catches up to them. Wocka wocka wocka becomes his war chant. It echoes through the halls as he consumes more and more dots.

Pacman steps out in front of them. Blinky makes a selfish decision. She trips Inky, pushing her to the ground. Instantly, Pacman is upon her. Inky shakes, cowering on the ground before him. [Image: Pac-Man eating Blue Ghost, Blue Ghost]

Inky: “Please, Pacman! We were kidding, just having fun.”

Pacman continues his advance.

Inky: “Come on, I swear I didn’t want to! But they made me! What was I supposed to do?”

Pacman doesn’t answer. There is no such thing as redemption. His mouth engulfs her entire head. With a single bite he severs her spine and rips her head off with a pop. Her body falls lifeless to the ground. Blood rolls down Pacman’s chin as he chews slowly, her brain matter and eyeballs sticking to the top of his mouth like caramel. Pacman opens his mouth and pulls out her scalp from his teeth. Pacman licks the rest of the brain matter of it like a lollipop before carelessly throwing it over his shoulder. He slurps the rest of the body into his mouth like a noodle. Delicious.

The chase pursues. Pacman’s a born tracker; he fol[Image: Pac-Man]lows Blinky’s trail through the halls. He patiently waits at the intersection she’ll emerge from. His wait is short-lived. As she walks out Pacman instantly snaps at her. Pacman’s jaws lock on her leg, clamping down tight. Blinky falls to the ground and smacks her head quite severely. Blood drips from her ears and nose along with a hole in her skull.

Pacman can’t help but notice how much Blinky’s head looks like a coconut. It gives him an idea. Pacman pulls out a straw from his backpack. He winds his arm back and punctures the straw through the hole on Blinky’s skull. Blinky screams as she’s given a deranged lobotomy. Pacman pulls Blinky’s body upwards as she twitches. He pulls the straw to his lips and takes a careful sip. A mixture of liquefied brain tissues rolls down his throat. Delicious, but missing something… Pacman eyes the foam dripping from Blinky’s mouth and adds it to his cocktail. Perfect.

Pacman sips until there is nothing left. Blinky’s head has deflated like a balloon. Finished, he throws Blinky up in the air. Her body falls back down right into his open jaws below. Crunch. Pacman smiles, his lips coated in red.

And then there was one. Clyde. His nemesis, his torturer. How great it will feel to beat him at last. Pacman walks s[Image: Pac-Man eating one Pac-Dot]l[Image: Pac-Dot]o[Image: Pac-Dot]w[Image: Pac-Dot]l[Image: Pac-Dot]y[Image: Pac-Dot], lazily grabbing up the dots lining this hallway. Sooner or later Clyde will appear. The ghosts shriek inside his stomach, pounding against his skin.
Pacman finally finds him. Clyde is lying on a bench, staring at the ceiling. He’s wearing sunglasses indoors, twirling a lit cigarette between his fingers. Behind him stand the last few dots. The music begins to wind down, it knows the end is near. Clyde must have heard him approach. He tilts his head and pops his sunglasses up to give him one last smug look.

[Image: Pac-Man eating eight Pac-Dots] [Image: Blue Ghost]

Clyde: “So this is it, huh Pacman?”

Pacman takes a step forward. Clyde pulls himself up and carefully places the sunglasses in his jacket pocket.
Clyde: “You’ll win, so what? It doesn’t even matter. Tomorrow it will happen all over again.”

Pacman doesn’t falter, Clyde’s words meaningless. The cigarette burns Clyde’s fingers. He had forgotten it was there. Clyde moves it to his lips and takes a long drag.

Clyde: “You want to know why we’ll do this again, every day for the rest of your life, Pacman? Because. You’re a nobody, a weirdo, an outcast. And that’s all you’ll ever be.”

[Image: Pac-Man] [Image: Blue Ghost]

Pacman stands in front of Clyde with a wide smile. In a final attempt to maintain his cool persona Clyde blows the smoke into Pacman’s face. But Pacman’s smile doesn’t falter. Pacman yanks the cigarette from Clyde’s lips. Clyde’s mouth opens and closes like a fish. For the first time in existence, Pacman finally spoke.

Pacman: “Go Fuck Yourself.”

Game Over