The Energy Drink
A Story Every Day in 2024 April 20th 111/366
Harry was struggling to keep on top of the everyday. He felt swamped and in a true sense of the word, he saw his life as a rank place, to be endured, the wading through it odious and malodorous and in danger of taking him under.
But he just needed, he felt, a little more pep to keep it going smoothly.
When he found Renew online, an energy drink which claimed to help "the average man keep his foot on the throat of life", he was seduced by the image suggested, of him conquering life and keeping it as his prize, like a trophy hunter with an endangered animal.
He ordered his first batch.
He wasn't sure what it tasted like - watery? - but he was a man of faith and so, he went with it.
And he did feel more energised and he did have the means to keep going. He still felt stressed but he convinced himself that he was being supported through this by Renew. The years went by, and he still maintained the same pace.
People would ask him "How do you keep going?" and he would say "It's this Renew" and would extol people with the wonderful properties of this energy drink, which he was starting to think was some sort of secret elixir. Nobody else was convinced despite his exhortations of its benefits and how he was living, walking proof.
But this all changed one day when Harry went on to search "how to renew your driving licence", put his search into Google, saw "Renew drink scandal" and went down that rabbithole.
*
When Harry collapsed, it was such a shock to his family and friends. He'd looked like he could go on forever and indeed, Harry had felt that way too until that ill-advised search where he came across an article by a missing journalist who had accused a big conglomerate drinks' manufacturer of passing water off as an energy drink and scamming the unsuspecting public out of millions.
Harry's heart took umbrage at being so fooled and to protest, it decided to palpitate at an extreme speed until the placebo effect of Renew finally wore off.
***
366 words
I am skeptical about a lot of things but very much what gets put into drinks whose labels profess to give you energy. Especially if they are a lurid colour.
Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please do leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.
111/366
About the Creator
Rachel Deeming
Mum, blogger, crafter, reviewer, writer, traveller: I love to write and I am not limited by form. Here, you will find stories, articles, opinion pieces, poems, all of which reflect me: who I am, what I love, what I feel, how I view things.
Keep reading
More stories from Rachel Deeming and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Final Call
She flings her arms around my neck and squeezes me like she’s never going to let me go. My head spins as her lips brush against my cheek. She must be able to feel my heart thumping in my chest. I shuffle backwards and ram my hands into my coat pockets, watching her reach down and heave the rucksack across her shoulders.
By Caroline Craven3 days ago in Fiction
WORKOUT AT HOME
Title: The Home Gym Adventure Once upon a time, in a cozy little house on the corner of Maple Street, there lived a guy named Alex. Now, Alex wasn't your typical gym enthusiast. He was more of a couch potato, spending his evenings binge-watching his favorite TV shows and munching on chips.
By Mukhammad Ali3 days ago in Fiction
Comments (14)
Never dabbled in energy drink consumption, but Harry’s struggle with keeping up day after day was very relatable and I could understand the allure! Great concept and great story, Rachel!
Yeah, I think they're either a load of hooey or loaded with stuff that shouldn't be consumed. Great story.
I like how the story shows Harry's struggle with everyday life and how he finds hope in a drink called Renew. It's interesting to see how he believes in Renew's power to keep him going, even though others don't. The twist at the end, where Harry learns the truth about Renew, adds an unexpected and thought-provoking element to the story.
Hey Rachel, nice micro. The heart palpitating in protest was a brilliant touch! 😄
Watching commercials, you’d think we had deficiencies in everything. People forget how great our bodies really are. Poignant.
Ha! I wouldn’t mind if all these energy drinks actually tasted nice. Lucozade = 😒 Was chugging monster on the drive to St Louis - also revolting! This was fab and makes me wish there was a magic elixir…. Although most times I think happiness is the (missing) ingredient. When you’re happy, I feel like you’re unstoppable. Great writing as always - what are you going to do with all your stories Rachel? I hope you are going to publish them.
Well-wrought! No matter what else they put in the energy drink, what gives you the energy is the truck-ton of caffeine right down your gullet. Unquestionably. Haha.
Cool story, Rachel! So many scams going on these days. It’s hard to trust anyone trying to sell me something. The most recent one I’ve encountered was someone telling me the phone company was doing an overhaul to keep up with technology and were switching to a new box for internet. I became suspicious when they said they needed my information to process the transaction. “If I’m already a customer, don’t you have my info?” After asking this, their bs started to crumble. I just hung up, lol. I gave up energy drinks and coffee a long time ago after realizing they were causing migraines. Sadly, I miss coffee. I don’t miss the energy drinks at all. Too much sugar and fakeness.
Never drink unnaturally colored beverages. Words to live by, say I. We are psychological animals as your story ably demonstrates. We can talk ourselves almost into anything, no matter how illogical. Great story, Rachel!
No kidding. So hard to trust anything. Great work
I learned so many new words from you today; odious, malodorous, extol, lurid and umbrage! "But this all changed one day when Harry was went on to search" In this sentence, I think the "was" isn't supposed to be there but I'm so sorry if I'm wrong 😅 Also, high 5!! Because I too am a veryyyyy skeptical person. Like I just don't trust anything. I guess that's one of the reasons I'm not easily influenced to buy anything. And although I'm a Nutritionist, I'm skeptical of nutritional supplements like vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc because it takes quite long to see the results compared to drugs, lol. The world has so many people who would cheat others for money. I pity the most with the poor. Imagine them saving up for something that the scammers promised to improve their health. Gosh so heartbreaking 🥺
Same same same and I've actually had to write about them. Which was a bit icky. I couldn't lie about them, but had to at least keep a positive spin on them at times. Like Shirley said, there are many in the US at least that are simply sold and supposed to have health benefits or amazing ingredients but don't have FDA approval. Over here, it's a little tighter, I believe, but I still find it hard to trust things that are luminous in colour and make claims. I'm quite a skeptic really, tbh lol. But, yeah...water is better...or water and well-chosen minerals if you need them. Anything else is just...for flavour or something. Anyway, loved this, Miss Deeming. Again...making me think...taking some poor soul's terrible end and making us question stuff. Well done!
Ah, Harry, ah humanity!
I'm skeptical, too. In the US, most energy drinks and health products aren't as safe as other safeguarded food and drink items from FDA.