Honeybird - Francis Rafael

Following a near-death experience, Clark Burrows, an aspiring journalist, calls on his best friend, Johnny, to make the most of their fading youth. The plan? Exploit every drug possible in order to reach the full potential of their human senses. But it doesn't turn out to be the rewarding experience they had expected, and Clark is soon forced to challenge his deepest beliefs and confront the darkest corners of his soul, transforming the trip into a journey of self-discovery and introspection.

Drugs can alter the mind, change perception and meddle with consciousness, but they are never to be underestimated. If a tiny speck of paracetamol in a sugar-coated tablet can erase a gut-wrenching fever, a headache and a case of the sweats, imagine what an injection direct to the bloodstream can do-better yet, a toxic deliriant of most wicked and evil capability.

Through narcotics, stimulants, dissociatives and psychedelics, the objective was clear, but easy to lose sight of when uncanny situations, hilarious shortcomings, tricky romances and dodgy dealers threaten to derail their plan. Clark and Johnny quickly learn how fragile, yet powerful the human psyche can be, experiencing feelings and worlds otherwise unknown, stumbling upon substances that weren't listed-and some, they didn't know existed.

Journalism was the excuse. Curiosity was the drive.