Several adolescents experiment with drugs. Some try it once as an act of rebellion; others use it occasionally without it causing any trouble, where as there are those who continue to use it and in the end develop an addiction. It is not possible to foresee how an individual will react to drugs and one should therefore tread carefully when engaging in experiments of such sort. The short story "A Gap of Sky" by Anna Hope is an example of how drugs can be used to escape reality.
The short story "A Gap of Sky" by Anna Hope is told in the 3rd person and has an omniscient narrator. The story takes place in London where the main character, 19 year old Ellie, wakes up after a night of partying. Ellie realizes that it is Monday and that she has an important essay on Virginia Woolf to write for the next day. Till now Ellie has not shown any interest in remembering what happened the day before but now she begins to recall. "Cans, some cans of lager, and then more coke arriving and – K, didn't they do some K?"(P.1 l.20) the way Ellie casually wonders what kinds of drugs she did indicates that it is not the first time something like this has happened. .
The very next thing that comes into Ellie's mind, after having put on some clothes, is coke; she finds a small stash in her bra. "Yessssss! Clever Ellie. Little bump just to get things started" (P.1 l.32), Ellie takes the rest of the coke and judging by the way she takes it without thinking twice Ellie seems to have a somewhat regular use of drugs. The fact that she is soon after considering if "There will be time () to get a bit more coke" (P.2 ll.54-55), adds to the assumption. The fact that she calls herself clever for saving the coke indicates that she is not ashamed of her use of drugs. .
The story is told from Ellie's perspective and small words like "fuck" and "better" are used after sentences describing her actions such as "() lets rip a glorious steamy stream of relief.
