I've never posted on r/nosleep before, but I didn't know where to share this story, and I really need to get it off my chest, I don't know what to do anymore. This story isn't paranormal, or about killers, or anything like that... I can't even explain what it is, so I'll just tell it.
I was around 15 years old when my friends started to experiment with drugs, just the occasional joint here and there, and I was never a part of it, because my mum really got to me with all those scary stories about her friends using it as a gate-way drug... And how they died of OD after trying some heavier stuff.
One day I found out that one of my friends, who really excelled in class, and was never really a "rebel" per-say, also smoked the occasional joint, he said he did it maybe once or twice per month, and that really made me change my opinion on it, if this guy, who's completely normal, and has really great grades and what-not, smokes and is still ok, than maybe I can try it without having major repercussions!
I arranged with him and we set up a day in their regular spot, it was a public one, in an area with a lot of bars/coffee shops in a row, but it was still secluded, so no security guards would see us, there were four of us. For the sake of the story, let's call my friend "Sam".
Now, Sam and I were sitting next to each other, the other two were in front of us, I watched as they rolled it, with this really weird dark forest green plant (which I assumed to be marijuana) and lit it. The first guy puffed it a couple of times, and handed it to Sam. He did the same and passed it to me, as he said - "Take it slow, no rush bro, ok?" - Now this only stressed me, but I remembered he said it was important to stay calm, or it could go wrong and you could start panicking. I braced my self and kind of "sucked" on the joint, and took a deep breath, my lungs instinctively coughed without me having any control and I saw smoke coming out of my mouth. It was weird, but Sam said - "Nah man, you won't get high if you exhale that fast, hold it in for a bit" - I tried again, and this time I held it in for about 10 seconds, I immediately felt a tad dizzy, and somewhat light-headed, so I said that was enough for me and I leaned against the wall gazing upon the stars.
After about 15 minutes looking at the sky, Sam approached me and asked me if I was feeling alright, I nodded vertically and he just asked if I liked it, I kind of just laughed and nodded again while smiling, I was in heaven right there. He said oh look there's Henry! I looked to my right and I saw him approaching, and I got up, walked up to him (he was about 20 meters away or around 66 feet) and as soon as our hands were about to touch, it happened. Now, I have no idea how to explain this, I think I some sort of OBE, but I can't really be sure, I just saw myself in third person, zooming in on my face, and then it was all sort of like "focusing" as in, it was blurry at first, but when I managed to get my shit together, I looked, and Henry was already next to Sam, talking to him, again, 20 meters away from me. I ran over to them panicking, and they just told me to sit down and relax.
For the rest of the night I felt pretty bad, but I calmed myself, took deep breaths, and that was that. My first experience with drugs.
I'm going to fast forward a bit, and by a bit I mean 20 years, to my 35 years, when I was already married and had a 7 year old son. My son's name was Paul, and my wife's name was Hannah. I was PR for a company that specialized in billboards and websites, basically anything that had to do with front-end, I had an above-average, steady income and I couldn't be happier to see my life settled.
Hannah was just.. beautiful... I couldn't get enough of her even after 10 years of marriage, she had exquisite dark, curly hair running all the way over to her shoulders and the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen in my life, she was so caring, every time I would come home from work at 8 PM ready to just throw myself at the bed and just call it a day, she would be waiting for me with a dinner plate in her hand and a beer in the next one, she insisted we'd talk because she missed me...
Paul was a little shy, but overall a great kid... I remember perfectly when we set up a bird feeder, we spent 2 hours doing it, but it was our little project and we were so proud that after making it, we just stared at it for 30 minutes, when a squirrel came along and just ate all the food, we laughed so much... It was so great... My life was too good to be true...
Literally...
Instead of waking up in my ordinary bed, I woke up in a hospital one... Confused as all hell I looked around the room to see if I could see anyone, no one, I sat up, and looked at my torso and legs, they were somehow different... I can't even describe how I felt, but deep down I think I immediately realized what was happening... Not too long after a doctor came in, bald with those cliché "smart doctor" glasses... He had a clipboard in his hand and, as he came in, I heard him click his ball-point pen and leaning it against the clipboard, as in he already knew he was in for a treat.
He greeted me and asked me if I was aware where I was, in the most worried tone I've ever heard in my life. I answered: "no" and when I answered, all my conjectures turned out to be true, I immediately realized that my voice was not the same, and the doctor explained it to me, I had passed out during one of my night outs... And I'd been taken to the hospital, I was passed out for around 2 hours.
My wife, my son... They never existed, that moment when I had my OBE? That was me passing out... Everything from that moment on was just a lie... They're gone, or rather... They never existed, I can't get my thoughts together, although I'm sure of one thing... I can't take this anymore, only one thing can free me of this life... And maybe, maybe... Maybe I'll see my family again.
EDIT: Thanks for the support, really appreciate it, didn't expect this story to get this much attention (also minor tweaks)
EDIT2: Can't believe this was actually removed because it was not a horror story, the idea that this would happen to me has actually kept me up for some nights, but anyway, thanks for the incredible support guys! This was my most popular post ever, and I'm glad you enjoyed my story!