Mid-December. New Heaven, Yale University, outside the Sterling Memorial Library.
The dark, Gothic facade looked classical in the summer, but in winter, it became gloomy and somber, like a giant beast devouring human souls.
An East Coast wind, carrying icy pellets from the first snow, scraped across the flagstone path like blades.
The brass trash can at the library entrance, meant for waste paper, was now overflowing. It was piled high not only with oversized black coffee cups and Red Bull cans, but you could even spot three empty vodka miniatures crammed into the gaps at the edge.
Suddenly, an ashen hand, its blue veins bulging, shoved a crumpled, silver blister pack into a gap in the trash.
A look closer would reveal the faint, black letters on the back: Adderall. It was a "smart drug" used by over eighty percent of students in these circles, originally a prescription medication for attention deficit disorder.
