"Hypnosis is bullshit," Dave proclaimed.
His raised voice didn't attract much attention at the crowded party. The woman who had been speaking (Sarah? Sandra? Dave couldn't remember her name) raised an eyebrow. Mark's palm smacked his forehead, but Dave didn't pay attention. Fueled by beer and righteous indignation, he continued.
"It's bullshit," he repeated. "It doesn't work in real life. It's just something you see on the movies, or on TV."
"Sierra, you've got to excuse my friend," Mark stepped in. "He's had too much to drink. He's normally not like this."
Sierra (that was her name, Dave remembered) smiled at Mark. Mark smiled back. He was trying to impress her so he could get laid. It wasn't hard to see why -- she was kind of cute, with long, curly dark hair, olive skin, and dark eyes. Her tits were too small for Dave's taste, though.
"I do mean it!" Dave protested, turning to Mark.
"No, you don't," Mark hissed. "You're offending our hostess."
"No, he's not." Sierra waved dismissively. "I'm used to it by now. When you tell people you're a hypnotherapist, you encounter a certain amount of skepticism."
"Yeah, 'cause it's bullshit," Dave muttered sullenly.
Sierra turned to him. "How would you like a demonstration?" she asked sweetly.
"Ummm." Dave had not expected her to say that. If he thought about it, which he hadn't, he wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go.
"You've got nothing to lose," Sierra pressed on. "If it really is bullshit, then you'll have proved me wrong. And if it works, I get proven right."
"Yeah, what do you have to lose, Dave?" Mark echoed, a smile playing on his lips.
"Alright, fine." Dave relented. "But you're comin' with me, man." He grabbed Mark's arm.
Sierra smiled again. Dave could have sworn there was a glint in her eye, but maybe Mark was right -- he had too much to drink. "Let's find a quiet place," she said. "It's too noisy in here."
They moved from the crowded kitchen to the second floor. Once upstairs, the noise from the party faded. Sierra guided them to a door. "Here's my office," she said, opening the door.
The trio entered. Sierra flipped a switch, and a dim light came on. Inside were a desk, a chair, and some beanbags. "Dave, why don't you sit down in the beanbag chair?" Sierra suggested. "It looks really comfortable."
Dave plopped into the beanbag chair. The room slid sideways. Okay, Mark was right about having too many beers.
"Comfy?" Sierra asked. She sat on the office chair and scooted nearer to Dave. "Mark is here with you, just like you asked. Mark, why don't you have a seat on the other beanbag? Get comfy."
Outside of Dave's field of vision, Mark sat down. "Okay, let's get started," Sierra said. Dave noticed her voice had changed. It was low, soft, soothing.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about hypnosis," Sierra said. "It's not something evil, or scary. It's a form of heightened awareness in which you're concentrating really hard on something. Like, when you read a book."
"Dave doesn't read," Mark teased.
"Shut up," Dave glared at him. "I do too."
Sierra cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, if I could have your attention."
Mark and Dave looked back at her with guilty expressions. She continued talking. "When we go into a hypnotic state, or a trance, it helps to have an object to focus on." Sierra lifted her necklace over her head. It was a large, multi-colored glass pendant on a black string. She held it high over Dave's head, so he would have to crane his neck to look at it.
"Watch as the necklace goes back and forth," she said softly. "Watch the colorful pendant as it sways gently."
Dave watched the pendant above his head. It was kind of hard to watch it -- this wasn't a comfortable angle for his neck. He leaned back further into the beanbag, which made it a bit easier.
Sierra kept talking, about how beautiful the pendant was, how colorful it was, how he just had to watch the pendant, and it was okay if he was getting more and more relaxed. "I'm getting more and more relaxed," he agreed.
"It's okay if you close your very heavy eyelids," Sierra said encouragingly. "That will help you relax even further."
"Relax even further," Dave said absently. If he closed his eyes now, he could rest. Watching the pendant sway back and forth was more tiring than he expected. His head lolled back, and his eyelids slowly closed.
"Dave?" Sierra called his name softly. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah," Dave drawled. He could hear her, but she sounded so far away. It was weird, because when he closed his eyes, she was sitting close to him. Dave decided it wasn't worth thinking about, because he was relaxed. And being relaxed felt good.
