Dark Lines

Crystal the Hope

Peter was having his breakfast and sipping his cup of latté, while watching a short series, with Crystal. The bruises are still looking as if they appeared yesterday, so freshlooking, as well as the aches that they have caused, they are still so painful, Peter wondered if he will be normal again, normal looking and normal living, but he thinks that if he will be, then it's a long road till the stop.

At noon, he gave Crystal a bath, she resisted so bad at the beginning, but then he allured her with the toys that he put for her in the bath, and the white foam that was going to make her clean, fresh and ready to continue her day.

“Hi Peter”, Sally; the shrink said.

“Hi doctor”, Peter said back.

“How are you doing?”, she asked.

“I’m alright”, Peter replied.

“What is bothering you today, Peter?”, she asked again.

“I feel watched, and desperate….I feel worthless”, he replied.

“Why is that, Peter?”, she asked.

“I have been seeing things, horrible things, and they aren’t made up by my imagination, they are real, I swear, see all the bruises that’s their doing!”, he answered.

“Since when this started to happen, since the beginning of the lockdown?”, she wondered.

“Not at the very beginning”, Peter cleared up.

“Okay, are you seeing anything right now?”, she asked.

“No, I haven’t seen anything since the last incident”, he said.

“Are you taking any medication, Peter?”, she asked. “Yes, pills of hallucination, and I used to take sleeping pills, but now I don’t prefer sleeping, I can’t sleep, I don’t want to”, Peter said.

“Listen Peter, I want you to reduce the intake of the hallucination pills, it might be worse if you took them improperly”, she said.

“Yes, they haven’t do me any good anyway, I still saw what I saw after taking them”, Peter said.

The session for today was over few minutes later, Peter is having his lunch now, and deciding whether this will end up healing him, or it will be useless, the sessions he means. He also was thinking that she probably thought that he caused himself this bruises, since hallucinate and many violent cases are increasing during lockdown. He will try anything he could, because what worse can happen more than what had happened, death?, no problem.

In the evening, he prepared a small dinner for the both of them, then they ate it while watching television. Two hours later, they went inside, he has already taken a pill during the day, so he won’t take one now, as the doctor requested, then he will be reading the book till the sun rises.

21/March/2021

Hello Peter,

I never asked you about Crystal, I hope that you didn’t get rid of her, she is so cute, and was looking scared when I took her from a box in the street, I gave her a bath, fed her, then thought that you might love her, especially that you live alone, she will keep you company.

On top of that, I thought that you will remember me that way, whenever you look at her, you will remember your friend Jane, but if you don’t like me, and you aren’t even reading all my letters, because it seems silly, I won’t force you to do so, you don’t have to remember me, just consider her a present from an old friend, don’t treat her badly based on who sent her, please!

-ENAJ-

“I should be heartless to do so”, Peter said when he read this letter, why would he get rid of that innocent creature, she needs care and love, she doesn’t harm anyone, on the contrary, she cares in return, and console her owner, she us a true blessing, Peter thought that it was the only best thing that happened with him during the lockdown, or even during this year.

Jane was absolutely a good friend, she is so sweet for doing all of this, it would be rude to ignore her letters and inconsiderate to reject her friendship and her good intentions, especially in these tough times.

He grabbed some bread, yogurt, tomatoes and made some tea, then turned on the television, he watched the news just for make sure that the country wasn’t on fire, but there was actually some good news regarding the pandemic, it sounds like the lockdown will end soon, because the vaccine is spreading in his country, and a few months forward this pandemic will be just like flu, most of the people on the globe will have already taken the vaccine by then, this was very motivating for Peter, just hearing that this will soon end, has lightened him up, he just have to survive till then, and he will be doing his best.

“Are you fine today?”, Sally asked.

“Yes doctor, I’m fine”, he replied.

“Very good, now tell me what do you usually do in your day?”, she asked.

“Nothing special, eating, showering, watching series and programs, reading books, exercise, working and listening to music, plus I sometimes smoke while I’m sitting on my balcony”, he answered.

“Interesting, I will recommend you to meditate, every one in a while, drink green tea, I know that these sounds cliché, but trust me on thus, plus try to stick to a healthy diet, smoke less, drink water more and more, do things that cheer you up more often, even if it means that you will spend most of your time doing it, but don’t get addicted, you must do all the things that I mentioned, they make so much difference, believe me, and the good fresh air on your balcony is just perfect for you”, she said.

“Okay doctor, I promise, I will do my best”, he said back.

Peter instantly made a cup of green tea after he had his lunch on the balcony, and grabbed the laptop to finish some work. After one hour he turned on the television to watch any entertaining thing he could find, while he was covered with his blanket next to Crystal.

At 6:05 p.m., Peter was doing some meditation, he cleared his mind, he surrounded himself with peace and hope, throwing out all the fear, anxiety, sadness and depression, he was teleporting himself to a green space fill of huge trees, fresh air, chirping birds, colorful flowers and the warming beams of the sun.

*****************

22/March/2021

Hello Peter,

Have you heard the news lately?, the lockdown has ended, it’s such a cheerful news, isn’t it?, I feel so much better now, everything seems more bright and calmer.

I hope that we could see each other soon, if you want to of course, and when you aren’t busy, no rush, but I just feel so thrilled for the idea that we might meet soon, Peter, that would mean so much to me, beyond what you could think, I long for a friend that might understand me, and I feel comfortable with you, you might feel the same, we might become good friends again, Peter.

Please think about it, I’m waiting for you

-ENAJ-