Seth Bowers, 31, petty criminal

Aching all over, Seth rolled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom to relieve himself. His mouth felt like a mouse had died in it, and his head was throbbing with a dull, insistent pain that reminded him of the amount of cheap whiskey he'd pounded back last night. He stared at himself in the mirror, taking in his bloodshot eyes and haggard face, trying to tell himself that it was definitely the last time he would drink that much.

"Yeah right," he snorted in derision at the thought, knowing full well that once he got past the third whiskey, or beer, or vodka, or whatever, there was no stopping until he came home to black out and wake up feeling like someone had beaten the shit out of him.

Sighing he threw some cold water in his face and shuddered at the feel of it, then swallowed some Tylenol before turning on the shower.

He leaned against the tile wall and let the hot water beat on him as the pain of his hangover slowly started to subside. Last night he'd been celebrating a score with Teddy, his buddy and sometime partner in crime. They'd stolen and unloaded a bunch of long distance phone cards, and cleared almost a thousand bucks each. Even better, he had a line on some digital camera cards and thought he should be able to make another nice score in a few days. All in all, not a bad night, and almost worth the hangover.

Feeling a little better, he shut down the shower and towelled himself dry. Heading for the kitchen to make some coffee he gave friendly tap on the aquarium glass to say good morning to his pet python who was curled in ball in its nesting bowl. Half an hour and two cups of coffee later, Seth felt almost human and ready to face the day.

It was then that the cramps struck him, doubling him over for a moment with their intensity. He staggered to the bathroom and vomited explosively, seemingly bringing up everything he'd ever eaten in his life, his body convulsing over and over until he was just dry heaving. Finally able to get himself under control, he virtually crawled to the couch and pulled a rug over himself before falling into a dreamless sleep.