PLUR-dahar

They peeled off the freeway in San Bernardino. Five minutes on surface roads, they found the festival grounds. A lot of cars were already stacked up. Barely arrived cars had everyone shuffling inside of the car to get ready. The air of action time was present in the parking lot. A bunch of guys were sitting on a truck bed, while they were smoking and drinking. A tall male couple was walking toward the venue. They were dressed in all black. They were evidently a couple, because they dressed in matching vests, chaps, and Zorro hat. A snobby BMW pulled into a parking space among all the beaters and lovingly aging cars.

Kandace got out of the car. She was so excited. She was bouncing from one leg to the other and throwing the other leg to the side in the air. Bling felt rushed to lock the door and dropped the keys. Kandace made a heart sign with her hands in front of her heart and said "PLUR" (Peace – Love – Unity –Respect) to Bling. Then she broke out laughing.

Kandace grabbed Bling's hand, and they jumped down toward the venue entrance. Kandace felt a surge of adrenaline, because she knew that her outfit would draw attention. And then she caught the first set of eyes lingering on her body. A girl with an Indian headband looked straight back at her. Kandace knew the fast glimpses that people gave her during the day. That girl looked at her for a full two seconds. Kandace had to step with a little more confidence to willingly let people look at her skin and outfit.

It was only a minute until the first boys hollered to the two girls, "Yo, we want to party with you!" Kandace smiled on the inside and kept jumping down the parking lot with Bling.

A guy with an eye mask and Matt Hatter hat mumbled, "Molly! Molly! Molly! Pure shit!"

An Asian girl in bikini with a tiger hood and tiger gloves was roaring and clawing in the direction of her friends.

A guy with a face mask was walking on stilts. He was a towering giant above the growing crowd of people that clustered into a line two hundred people long. He meandered through the crowd and kept the people fatigued by the line entertained. He also had stilts at his hands, which made him look a bit like an insect. Overhead, the lights from some of the stages were already flickering. The dum-dum sound of the drums already carried out to the parking lot.

Kandace and Bling hopped right to the front of the line. Gray metal barricades were creating space at the entrance. They also segregated people into different lines. Bodies were pressing against each other inside of the barricades. Everyone was dressed in festival clothes, bright, skin exposed, and magically fantastical. The security people were all chubby guys in sloppy black pants and t-shirts. They moved little around. A trickle of one person at a time cleared through the entrance way. The two stood right at the entrance behind the barricade, holding onto the metal tubing with both hands.

Bling waved a security guy over. He waddled side to side because of his fat gut. He looked bored and unimpressed. "Hey, we want to get in," said Bling. The crowd of two hundred people in line took little notice of her. It was too loud. The security guard leaned over the railing to look at Kandace butt. Her butt was only half covered by the skimpy bikini bottom. Her butt was firm and perfectly round, begging for a squeeze and ready to make a heart skip a beat.

The security guy nodded and lifted the barricade a little to let the girls squeeze in. Kandace gave the grumpy guard a candy bracelet. Now, he was dressed in all sloppy black clothes with a happy, colorful bracelet. The guard never said anything, yet he smiled a little, which seemed a momentous act of communication for him.

The girls hopped past the other security guards. Guys were carefully patted down for contraband. The girls in their skimpy clothes were allowed to bounce right past them.

Getting into the venue, there was a sense of space. The ground had been trampled hard. The grass had long been trampled to death. There were a few trees. Everyone who got in had immediately moved towards one of the tents, leaving space behind. Flyers and garbage was discarded on the ground and trampled flat. Boxes with sound equipment had been left here.

They got into the first tent. People were already standing side by side. The whole tent was full of hundreds of people. The music was thumping loud, those rolling beats and piercing high sounds. The bored people were standing in the back of the tent. The girls wanted to get to the center of the fun. They stepped into the spaces between people to find their way to the front. The spaces got increasingly tighter. They had to turn sideways to squeeze onward. The music volume was swelling to a loudness that was sense altering. The music was blaring all the thoughts and worries out of the brain. The flashing lighting required capturing snapshots of the surroundings with each flash. It required becoming present and in the moment.

Kandace felt the urge to jump. Somebody had slapped her on the butt. She turned around. There was a wall of five people behind her. All the faces were looking onward to somewhere else. She couldn't make out who had slapped her. In this tight area, she knew that it was open hunting season on her body. She smiled on, not letting it disturb her amazing night. She had to keep up with Bling, who was needling herself in between people. They were 100 feet from the stage. They could see the DJ high above everyone wearing a red cape. He was telling people to clap overhead. Everyone started clapping and jumping. Kandace felt herself even more lost in the crowd. She soaked up the fun atmosphere and let it flow through her little body.

Someone pushed her. She fell onto a girl with blue hair and already sweaty body. The girl's pupils were highly dilated. The girl immediately hugged Kandace. The girl gave Kandace a candy bracelet. They traded. The girl was obviously high on Molly. The blue haired girl hugged Kandace again. The blue haired girl snuggled her body against Kandace with tenderness and love. Kandace smiled. She knew that would be her in about an hour. Kandace squeezed the body of the blue haired girl and followed Bling deeper into the crowd of bodies.

A shoe kicked Kandace in the head. Kandace turned around. There was a girl with dragon wings sitting on the shoulders of her bare chested boyfriend in white fur pants. The dragon wing girl had wrapped her feet around the back of her boyfriend, so that she could dance free handed high above the crowd. The boyfriend had wonderful pecs. His face was cut clean. Kandace felt jealous for wanting to have a stud like him.

They had made it to the front. A small group of girls was dancing together. They joined them. The girls provided each other with a little protection. A dark wall of guys formed around them eager for each one of the hot headliner girls. The music sung about "living on sexy nothing." It felt so true that moment. Kandace felt that she could live on sexy nothing all summer long. She felt so happy in her outfit. The music was rolling. All the girls around her smiled and were happy.

There was one girl whose outfit was a little more refined like the other girls. She was wearing this Russian girl uniform. It was gray. It had red Russian military stars. It had fur lining to suggest that it was for cold weather. It was also so skimpy and body hugging. It fit her so perfectly. That's the hallmark of expensive clothing, a really good fit.

That girl danced over the Kandace. They danced together for a little bit. Then the girl leaned in to shout into Kandace ear: "I really like your outfit. You really bring the spirit." Kandace felt happy to be acknowledged by this alpha girl. "I really like your dress as well!" she shouted back. Their sweaty bodies were bumping against each other, while they kept dancing. Their lips were touching each other's ears. They felt each other's sweaty bodies.

"I'm Briana. Do you want to roll!" asked the alpha girl.

"Hell yeah!" shouted Kandace back.

Briana reached under her bra to pull out two blue pills, "Caribou blue," yelled Briana into Kandace's ear. A deer like animal was stamped onto the pill. Kandace pulled sixty dollars out of her rhinestone bra. She reached into Bling's bra to pull out another sixty. Bling at first grabbed her boobs in panic. Once she saw that it was her roommate, she let Kandace have access to her bra.

The roommates popped the pills together. Briana moved on dancing elsewhere in the girl circle.

The music died. Kandace looked up at the stage. A new DJ had walked on. He was introducing his set with a sound cut. A loud bang, like a baseball bat to a steel drum, echoed through the festival tent. The sound rung slowly out. Without music and light going, everyone was standing around. It was a bare moment. The girls looked awkward at each other: "What are we doing here?" The guys who had been barely bouncing along the music looked completely bored. The white light without strobes let everyone take in each other rather than being focused on all the flash. There were a lot of normal looking faces standing around.

Another steel drum bang sound ran out in the festival hall. Kandace could feel her body getting a little tired from dancing for half hour. Molly hadn't kicked in yet.

"We all have demons," announced the DJ in a sound distorted to sound heavy and pronounced. "Some of us have the discipline and determination to face them. Only a pure heart can slay demon." His voice grew dark and mystical. "I'm bringing you the light to carry in your heart. That's not enough. You have to take it. You have to embrace it." A soothing piano solo set in. "Embrace the light," called the DJ with a dark baritone voice. Everyone started dancing and pumping their fists in the air.

Bling's body was pushed against Kandace's from the crowd. The smooth sweaty skin glided up and down as both jumped. Bling's body felt like honey. That's when Kandace realized that the Molly had kicked in. And she smiled. And that smile released serotonin in her brain. It felt so good. Kandace shouted, "Embrace the light" with the DJ as she felt her whole body lighting up with joy. She willingly bounced against other bodies, gently of course, to feel the people around her. This little mousy girl noticed it and rubbed back against Kandace. They had this little moment of deep connection on the dance floor.

"Oh, you are so rolling!" yelled Bling into Kandace's ear.

"I love you so much," yelled Kandace back at Bling. And Kandace tried jumping up on Bling for a full body hug. They almost fell to the floor. Many helpful male hands were holding the two up and kept them from falling. They let all these strangers touch them.

A girl grabbed both of their hands. The girl had only black pasties on and silver bottoms with black boots. The black pasties girl pulled the roommates through the crowd to a side exit. The roommates were so excited to go onto an exploration. Their skin was pushing through in between bodies. The skin sensation felt so good through the distortion of the drug. Fur was pushing into their face. Despite being constantly on the verge of being crushed, the drug made them feel safe and sound.

When the white flap of the tent closed behind them the mystery pasty girl said, "You guys are way high. The boys were eying you too much. I'm taking you to a safe chill out space."

Outside the tent, festival goers were walking into different directions. Everyone was on his or her way to some stage or meet up point. The pasty girl knew her way through the hills, generators, and vendor booths. The smell of fresh pizza drifted through their noses. It made them dream of running through the wheat fields in Italy. In a moment of clarity, Kandace realized that she was drenched in sweat and had absolutely no idea about the passage of time. Her body moved with ease, when it should have been severely sore and tired already.

The pasty girl let them over the grass to a white dome that was about twenty foot weight. It was made of metal bars. Someone had put a cloth over it. The pasty girl found the entrance and held the fabric open for Kandace and Bling. Both crouched low to squat under the metal bar.

Outside lights flickered matte on the cloth over the dome. The dome was dark. There was a rug on the ground. There were lots of odd shaped pillows. People were lying all over the ground. Everyone was evidently high. Everyone was hugging or spooning at least one person in cozy, intimate silence. There were five girls and one guy in a fluffy rabbit costume. Seeing the other girls set the roommates at ease.

One of the girls in the center called out, "welcome, friends." The girl reached her arms wide. There was little to recognize about her in the half-light. She seemed to have gone for the sexy school girl outfit with a very short plaid skirt, tiny white shirt, and pig tails. Kandace let herself down on the floor next to the pig-tail girl. The pasty girl simply lay on top of both of them. There was no concern or worry about physical touch. And Kandace's human baby instinct took over. She cuddled herself up against her new friends, skin-to-skin. And she felt the love pouring out of her and into her. They were holding each other in silence, feeling the community.

At some point, the pasty girl said, "That's Kyle. He's Suzy's girlfriend. He's cool." She looked at the guy in the tent dome. The pasty girl had felt like she needed to explain. Kyle was snuggling into Suzy. Suzy had her legs wrapped around Kyle. Suzy was running her feet up and down Kyle's backside. They were full-mouth tongue kissing. Suzy's body was writhing in abandon under Kyle's body. It was a break of rolling etiquette to go overtly sexual in some circles.

"Girls, you don't know how good this feels. I had the worst day today. I had felt like crying. I would have cried, if I wouldn't have felt too despondent to even cry," revealed Kandace to her two new friends.

"I'm on Prozac. I tried to cut my wrist a month ago. I couldn't deal with my boyfriend breaking up with me," revealed the pig-tail girl.

"I love you both. I feel like I could scoop love out of my heart and into your hearts," said the pasty girl with deep sincerity and caring.

"I think I killed someone last week. I made a mistake on the chart. I'm a nurse. Betram, that's my co-worker, he said that he would have died anyway. The injuries were too severe. I can't stop thinking about it," shared Kandace spurred on by the feeling of connection.

The pasty girl started kissing Kandace all over the face. "I'm sure you did your best. I can feel that you are a true spirit. Like, you really care deeply."

"I do," mumbled Kandace. "I really care deeply. That's why I struggle so much." The realization was so profound that Kandace sunk deeply inside of herself. The pasty girl kept moving the kisses down to Kandace's chest. The pasty girl moved Kandace's bikini to the side. The kisses convened on Kandace's boobs and focused on her nipples eventually. It felt great, while Kandace ruminated on her life. Kandace's head fell to the side.

Kyle had pulled down his pants. He was rolling a condom down his penis. Suzy was completely naked. Kandace took all this in without alarm. She simply watched the two bodies like someone watches pigeons in the park. The pigeons twaddle around pecking on the ground. Kyle was kneeling. His body was high off the ground. Kandace could see all the details of the muscles on his belly in the half-light. The penis was six inches long. The rubber was completely translucent, strangely invisible. Kyle entered Suzy. Suzy immediately wreathed and groaned with the throes of sex.

That's when Kandace felt something was amiss. She sat up and looked for a body part that belonged to Bling in the cuddle pile. She found a leg that looked like Bling's. She pulled on it. "Bling, I want to leave. Let's go dancing." Being a good friend, Bling immediately go up. Bling looked very sad at her cuddle buddy. "Why are you going?" asked the pasty girl. Kandace dragged Bling out of the dome, while adjusting her bikini to cover up.

"I'm not prude. They were fucking," said Kandace to explain.

"You don't have to explain, Kandy. Let's get water. We need to hydrate," said Bling.

The grassy hill was filled with clusters of friends sitting in circles. The smell of chronic occasionally wafted through the air. A red glow was visible nearby. The muffled sound of drums-n-base going rabid nearby blew over the festival ground. Some girls where twirling glow-in-the-dark hula hoops. A guy was trying to go magical with LEDs attached to the tips of his gloves. A promoter girl with red velvet panties was passing out flyers. A trail of discarded flyers was on the ground like a long beard trailing thinner as people had walked farther away from her. The air felt cool.

They looked for the entrance into the little village of vendors. Two guys walked up to them. They had bandanas. They were wearing suspenders over their bare chests. They immediately paired up with one girl each. Kandace felt little. Her head was as high as his chest. She looked up at him. She still had the warm sunburst of Molly inside of her.

"Hey, you look cute," said that guy. "I'm Brad."

Kandace looked a little smitten at the guy. She also knew that this would constantly happen when she went to the crowded places.

"I'm Kandace. We are looking for water."

"I'll buy you a bottle of water," said Brad. He pulled Kandace onto his side and started walking.

"I just need some water. We haven't drunk in a long time," stated Kandace.

"Yeah, you gotta hydrate. I got you," said Brad and kept walking her towards a vendor booth. They walked side by side with his arm around her. She eyed Bling to see if she was following.

"DJ Scribble lets the bass drop bad ass," said Brad trying to impress Kandace.

"We were just at this cuddle dome. It got a little intense. And I got weirded out," said Kandace. Brad right away eased up a little and gave her more distance. As promised, he bought each girl a bottle of water.

"Thank you," said Kandace. "We want to go dance." She pushed her hand against Brad's bare chest to get rid of them. She took Bling's hand and walked to the nearest music tent.

"Hey, I bought you a drink," called Brad after her despondently.

They ended up in a deep house tent. The soul, ambient, and lounge vibe of the music embraced them and changed their mood. The tent was crowded. They tried to push their way to the front of the stage. People were too standing too tight. Their girl strength and little weight didn't manage to push people apart to slip in between. They tried to dance in the middle section of the crowd. There were a lot of standers – people who didn't do drugs and didn't dance. The atmosphere felt kind of cold.

They tried to close their eyes and escape into the dreamscape that the music was drawing onto their minds. The lights were pulsating against the inside of their eyelids. An elbow hit Kandace in the temple. The crowd was shoving because it was so packed. The bad vibe started seeping into her trip. Kandace tried to close her eyes again holding onto her friend. A hand grabbed her bulbous butt. She swatted it away.

The hand came back to finger on the hem of her bikini bottom. She grabbed the fingers hard and squeezed them with rage. Her fist bent them real good. She felt her bikini bottoms pulled down to the smile of her butt. She pulled on her friend to get out of there. They started violently pushing against the wall of people to get out. The fingers kept touching her butt and pulling on her bikini bottoms. She stopped fighting the fingers and desperately held onto her bikini bottoms. If she held it in the middle, the hands tried to pull them down on the side.

The pokey fingers made her squirm. She started hitting people in front of her to get out of the way. Towering and more towering people were in her way. The crowd was pushing on her from all sides. Another hand started pulling on her rhinestone top. Her boobs were quickly hanging out. Nobody took notice, not even the guy with the studded leather jacket whom she was being pressed again by a wave of pressure moving through the crowd. She could feel the rough leather on her nipples. Those fingers kept following her and tormenting her.