Everything turns a beautiful blue. Sights, sounds, touch and mentality have changed. Creativity flows freely from your mind to your hand, pen and paper. This blue is "the blue that knows you and where you live and will never forget it" (107). Blue represents the fix and excitement an addict gets from the drug. Drug addicts are looking for an escape. They feel that if only they achieve that success they will be able to enjoy life and its experiences to a greater extent. In Kate Braverman's short story "Tall Tales From the Mekong Delta," she describes a woman's struggle with drugs and how she eventually returns to using them after being sober for so many years. Examining Lenny's changing appearance, her desire for escape from everyday life, and her use of blue and green, it is evident that her temptations will get the better of her and destroy everything she tries to maintain when she is sober. the symbol of his dependence. When it is first introduced to her, she describes it with a kind of disgust. "He was short, fat, pale. He had bad teeth. He had dirty hair" (89). This shows that she is no longer interested in drugs. So he tries harder and harder to look for her and talk to her. Then temptation is introduced. ""You want to get in over your head. You want to see what's on the other side. I'll show you. I'll take you there. It will be the ride of your life"" (91). But the more persistent and always he is around, the more gradually she is attracted to him and, consequently, to the drugs she has been trying to quit. “His face looked younger and tanner than he remembered” (93). He begins to show up at the meeting in a small car, then on a motorbike. Then he arrives in a red Ferrari. As time passes, he... halfway... returns home, but forgets the dirty needle and gets AIDS. She'll be too caught up in the joys of drugs to not notice everything she's worked so hard to bring down. With his desire for more than what he gets on a daily basis, his growing affection for Lenny until after his first use of alcohol and drugs, and the symbolism of blue and green, it is evident that he will not be able to overcome her temptations and being dragged back into the world of drugs and alcohol, only more intense this time. He has already started taking drugs, drinking and smoking again. She's seen the sober life for too long and she's not happy about it. His smoking and drinking, while not illegal, will still contribute to his downfall. "When the glass ran out, he poured another. When the bottle was empty, he bought another"(107).