Ode to the Six Pack by Steve Mahalic

Packed together out of convenience and disregarded as individuals like ants in a line,  hairs on a head, or grapes on a vine are those six cans or bottles of brew each distinct in their own right.

No their individuality does not lay in their size nor shape, or even their taste, but rather in their order.

Their order of consumption makes them special and different and each should be appreciated by those who appreciate those sorts of things.

The first is intensity.
Even if it is a watery light lager, it has intensity.
The crispness of the carbonation, the coldness, the flavor, yes the first of the group may not be the best but most certainly most vivid.

The second is comfort.
If you are anything like me the first was fast, and as my father may say it tasted like more. That's where number two comes in.
 No faculties have been altered yet; there is just a satisfaction in the imbibition.
Yes the second one sets the pace. If number one started the party number two gets the ball rolling.

The third is happiness.
Taste has been blunted by the third for sure, but  the crispness remains.
If the second one set the pace the third will set the tone of the evening as faculties begin to alter.
The head is feeling a slight loftiness.
The laugh is quicker to come from the belly.
The voice may already begin to modulate upward in decibel not octave.
The third is the reason for the first two.

The fourth is the line in the sand.
It dictates what kind of night and what kind of morning one may be having.
The fourth also takes on different meanings depending on to whom you are with when you are having it.
The fourth is often attached to the fifth and if you aren’t careful you may be pleading the fifth if you continue.

The fifth is often the point of no return.
Reality can blur at five as the alcohol has moved on from altering taste and mood to judgement and rational and sometimes motor control.
The fifth is an element only to be indulged in the most needed of times.
Much like the first tastes like tagging in the second often the fourth mimics the first.
The problem is there's a lot more at stake the further you wander down the line.

The sixth is the rascal, the trickster, the jester.
What could feel like accomplishment, meaningless as it may be, often feels like a yearning for the extraneous more.
A false sense of necessity and a misunderstood notion that more ounces will lead to prolonged revelry.
For the ones who were smarter when sober they had the sense to only purchase one package of pints, a salute to your restraint.
Because soon after the sixth is finished, often you are as well.
Having anymore would just be gluttonous but if you bought a twelver, what the hell.

Steve lives in CT with his wife and children. While he is often found writing children's literature at his independent publishing company, he thought he'd step outside his typical literary comfort zone to appreciate one of the rewards of making it to adulthood. See his child appropriate work at www.mahalicmedia.com