h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's Friday night and I'm at home and going nowhere. This is by choice; I could have taken up an invitation to go to the pub, but I know from bitter experience that I no longer have the stamina for a night out with that chap so I came straight home from the office. There's beer here, and music, and my choice of food, and a bed within easy reach when I want it. Once upon a time, though, I'd have been quite downcast at the thought of staying home, convinced I'd miss something truly exciting.

I am a little nostalgic for those days when I was barely an adult, I could eat anything and not put on weight, and I had the energy to spend all night in the clubs and still function the next day. It all seems so exhausting now, but back then it was second nature.

I can remember the first time I pulled an all-nighter. I was 19, I was still in Adelaide, I was living alone for the first time and I went with my new Uni friends to Adelaide's oldest gay nightclub - the Mars Bar, in Gouger St.

Naturally I don't remember all the details of the night. There was a lot of Bacardi, a fair bit of various other refreshments and some reasonably intense flirting on and off the dance floor. One of my companions was a lad I fancied like mad and I spent quite a lot of the night fancying him, until about 3am when I went off him completely because he was busily and blatantly fancying someone else. But never mind, by that stage I was more interested in the music.

I think I left Mars at about 5am; it was Summer and the sun had risen but there was still an hour and a half before the first 175 bus came along and I couldn't afford a cab. I remember roaming around Central Market for a while, watching the place come to life even while I was starting to drift off to sleep on my feet. The pirozhki stall was one of the first to open so I grabbed a couple of them, then wandered past the Polish deli to get some of their fantastic cheesecake. By then it was time to go to the bus stop in Victoria Square.

I remember getting on the bus, but not much more than that. Seemingly a minute later, but actually about half an hour later, I woke to find the bus driver looming over me, laughing.

'Where am I?'

'Last stop, mate. Paradise.'

I stumbled off the bus. Yes, it was Paradise. All the signs said so. Paradise Interchange, where the regular bus services in the north-eastern suburbs meet up with the Adelaide O-Bahn. They paved Paradise, put up a bus station, and I woke up in it.

So that was what happened the first time I woke up in Paradise. As an atheist, I'm unlikely to wake up there again.



This taradiddle was brought to you as part of A87679886 - the Create challenge about a first time. This is three for the price of one - my first big night out, my first serious infatuation and the first time I woke to find myself in Paradise.

But is it true? You tell me.

Ivan.

I *want* it to be true, that's for sure!

Would be nice if it were - even if I don't want this to happen to any of you in the future

Hmm, interesting read. All the places mentioned exist so I'm going for true.

"I woke up in Paradise. As an atheist, I'm unlikely to wake up there again."

Let's be consistent. You're implying that atheists don't get to Paradise, though others might?

I wake up every day in Paradise. Can't think of a more hospitable environment for me anywhere else in the universe, or out of it for that matter.

I'll take that as a vote for 'false'.

Great story. I hope it's true.

I've been to Paradise, but I've never been to me

I also hope it's true but I think Ivan might be pulling a fast one - he's dazzling us with our hopes for such a sweet story to be true and it's therefore false.

I suspend my disbelief and vote for true.

Fantastic. I hope it's true.

Got to be true.

I, too, want very much for that story to be true!!!

When do we get told the Truth?

According to A87679886 - not just yet.

Mind you, that A-page is ambiguous; I'm not sure if I can string you along for another week, or whether I have to resolve the matter on Monday.

I'll ask...

I vote for true.

Being the practical piglet (and having had kids falling asleep on the buses several times) my first question is - how did you get to work?

And does it really count as an all-nighter as you obviously fell a-sleep?

They paved Paradise ??

That has to be true

"And does it really count as an all-nighter as you obviously fell a-sleep?"

A valid question, Tartaronne

I fell asleep in daylight, so I'd already been awake all night.

And I was a student at the time (Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and East Asian politics) so there was no question of going to w*rk. Depending how you define 'w*rk', of course.

I tend to believe what people tell me. I vote for true.

I am also gullible