Whose Brain Is It?
by Leena Prasad
“Eli, what are you on man?” John says.
“What do you mean?” Eli says, “You know I don’t do drugs.”
“Cigarettes are a drug.”
“I’ve cut back on those.”
Eli and his friend John are playing a video-game.
After Eli wins the game, they go out for dinner.
“That’s the first time I’ve won in a few weeks,” Eli says as they walk towards their favorite pizzeria. “You are losing your edge, man.”
“You have been playing better than usual.” John says.
After dinner, Eli turns down John’s offer for a ride and walks the ten blocks that it takes to get home. It’s 11:30pm when he gets home but he’s feeling energized. He buys online tickets to see a local band, pays off a few bills, and reads until he falls asleep after midnight.
Next morning, he is alert and energized despite lack of sufficient sleep. After work, he goes to a dinner meeting with an investment club. He has been reading and learning a lot lately about financial planning and has made some good investments. Maybe that’s why he’s been happier than usual lately, he thinks.
Eli’s moods have been relatively positive for the last few months. He has also been calmer at work. Instead of getting frustrated with a colleague whom he considers dim-witted, Eli has grown slightly more patient and understanding.
A few weeks later, he’s watching a tennis game on television with his sister. An ad for Prozac comes on.
“Are you taking that stuff these days, Eli?” his sister says.
“What stuff?”
“You know, Prozac or … whatever it was that you were taking a few years ago.”
“Nope.”
“You seem more relaxed these days,” she says.
He nods but doesn’t really know what to tell her. He has already told her about the breakup with the girl he was seeing and that there’s no one new in the picture. Nothing much has changed at work or otherwise.
“How’s your tennis game going these days,” his brother-in-law asks.
“Oh, I found a good partner and I’ve been playing three times a week for several months now.”
The change in Eli’s attitude may partly be a result of the regular exercise that he’s doing.
Leena Prasad has a journalism degree from Stanford University. Her writing portfolio is available at www.FishRidingABike.com and she can be reached at leena@fishridingabike.com.
