Prelude
The Secret of the Everclear Snowman
Somewhere in the middle of drunkenly running out into a raging snowstorm to confess my undying love to a boy I had just met a month ago, I finally realized the “gay thing” was not going to go away. And as I stood knee deep in the freezing snow, in nothing but my undies, socks, and a t-shirt, I also realized that Everclear, which is grain alcohol, doesn’t actually make you think as clearly as the name might suggest.
Or does it? Because as I collapsed in the middle of the snow-filled parking lot and made the gayest snow angel the world never got to see, I had the clearest epiphany of my life:
It was cold out, but I was warm.
Now, some people might attribute that thermal blanket to the excessive amount of Everclear I had consumed. But that liquid warmth wasn’t what I was feeling.
As I look back, I believe in that moment, surrounded by snowflakes, and cars, and my own vomit, it was the first time I felt a true feeling of freedom. The type of freedom that simultaneously warms your whole body while giving you goosebumps. The type of freedom and warmth I never wanted to live without again.
This is the story of what happened next…