…or a vampire. Whatever.
The Doclopedia #233
Altered (United) States: Colorado “Home of the REAL Rocky Mountain High”
Ask anyone you might meet, regardless of their country of origin, what they know about Colorado and they’ll almost always say “Rocky Mountain High”.
And they aren’t talking about that song by John Denver, either.
The globally known “Rocky Mountain High” is what you get if you eat the fruit of the Colorado Yellowberry Bush. This small (2 feet high by about 3 feet wide) woody shrub only grows along the banks of streams at altitudes between 8,000 and 10,000 feet. Even then, growth is most common only if the area is heavily forested. The berries themselves are about the size of marbles and of a bright yellow color. Once picked, the berries begin to decay and will break down into a slimy goo in just 48 hours. They are easy to freeze though, so most berry hunters take along an ice chest full of dry ice.
Although most animals can eat the berries with no ill effects, when consumed by humans they produce a very strong euphoria combined with mild hallucinations and the frequent manifestation of a type of psychic power called “hopping”, during which the subject finds themselves seeing, hearing and smelling the same things that somebody else on the planet is experiencing. Distance is not a factor, nor is sex, age or anything else. The experience can be extremely intense, especially if the subject hops into a person as they die.
As might be expected, the United States government has declared Yellowberries a dangerous narcotic and placed hefty prison sentences on their possession, use and sale. As you might also expect, this has caused the price of Yellowberries to go through the roof. A single berry averages about $50.00 and the sale of fake berries is rampant.
The State of Colorado has tried on several occasions to eradicate the plant from the more accessible areas, but the very tiny seeds found in the berries can remain in the soil for years before germinating and then they grow quite rapidly.
Recently, researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have compiled a list of seven occasions when two people under the influence of Yellowberries “hopped” each other. None of these people knew each other, but they were all vegetarians. It was also discovered that the hops lasted far longer than the usual 10-15 minutes, in some cases lasting as much as 2 hours. Research into this strange phenomenon continues.
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