Misery

I awoke on a rainy Saturday to the sound of a bittersweet love song.

I looked around my home, looking for the source of the music.

What I found I had been expecting, but not in the way she had come. I found Misery. She was watching raindrops gather and fall down the window screen.

"Who let you in," I ask?

She turns to me and sets her teacup down on its saucer. “I always had a way in, darling. Your mother’s mother has been giving me keys to your home since before you were born, and her mother has been giving me keys since before she was born. ..." She paused. "Plus, you have been leaving your door unlocked at night. It wasn’t hard to walk in. So, it should be no surprise I am here."

“Have some tea,” she said. She strolls towards me, carrying a teacup. It rattles on its saucer. The bottom of her black lacy dress clings to the velvet chair she was sitting on and then onto the lush carpet.

I look down at the teacup in my hands. Her lovesick song rang loud in my ears from her record player.

I took a sip from her tea, and it didn’t taste bitter, so I downed the rest. As I drank, it started to taste like honey, and then suddenly, it was sickeningly sweet and thick. The last drop rolled down my throat slowly.

I felt the sadness dripping down my body. I couldn’t tell if the salty water was from my eyes, tears, or sweat.

The blue from my eyes began to fall and hit my knees. I gasp. "Don’t worry, " she said in a calm tone that frightened me.

She took a long paintbrush from her pocket and began to paint crescent moons under my eyes from the blue water beneath me, and it made my face heavy on my head.

I tried to scream out, but she put a single fingertip to my lips, “SSSHHH.”

She gave a little laugh. "Do you want someone else here?" She asked.

She picked up a warm blanket and wrapped it around my body. She noticed I was cold.

The blanket felt warm, but I tried to move. The blanket had entrapped me. I struggled, but the more I pushed, the more it engulfed me. I felt like a fly in a predators’ web.

“You can’t stay here,” I say, trapped in her web.

She looks at me, hurt. “But where will I stay?” She asks. A look of pain flew across her face.

“Not with me.” I say as I struggle.

“Your house is so much better than where I was before. I want to be here with you. Forever. You and me.” A tear of red blood comes from her eye. She drops to her knees. “My last hope was you,” she said, sobbing.

Her long black hair began to fall out of her head, exposing the top of her skull.

The blanket felt less tight, and I tried to stand up. It felt like I was moving slowly, but I was still making progress.

Misery grabbed her blanket and tried to cover herself as she began shrinking, smaller and smaller until her dress hung on her ribs like a curtain.

She grabbed out to my ankle. “Please give me a morsel.” Her voice was weak.

I picked her up in my arms. She felt cold, but I could feel her heart faintly beating.

I walked out of the door to the lake, where it was still raining. The raindrops cooled my skin as I walked.

I walked into the lake, and it turned wider into an ocean. It pulled me in different directions, but I stood firm.

I took a long last look at Misery. She turned her gaze towards me with gaunt cheeks and thin hands. She touched my cheek one last time. She had no strength left for words.

I let her go. I watched her sink into the water, then disappear into the sand.

I walked out of the ocean. I sat on the bank and let the rain hit my body.