Friend

You wake up in a hospital only to find that someone drowned trying to save you. And what's the meaning of this strange dream you've been having since the incident?

Please

My eyes shot open, my heart threatening to escape from my chest. The racing beeps of a heart monitor reached my ears as I gasped for air, then slowed as my pulse steadied. Straining my aching muscles, I sat up from the cold sheets draped over my body, and a clammy hand found its way to my chest. I twisted my head to the left�"my neck is extremely sore�"to see a doctor worriedly checking the machines I'm hooked up to. My eyes traced the wires back to my body and, now that I'm fully awake, I can feel the sharpness of the needles resting in my arms.

The doctor sighed, "How are you feeling?" Came his worn voice. Tired eyes that held a sad past met mine, and a wrinkled smile formed beneath his full, beige beard. He took a few steps towards me, his heels emitting a muffled clack on the ground.

"Fine..." I replied, but my voice is hoarse. What in the world happened to me?

The doctor smiled, "Do you remember anything?" I refused to respond, ending up staring blankly at him. He chuckled, "I thought so." He turned back around and grabbed a clipboard resting on a silver table, then began to flip through the pages. "Someone found you and one other person drowning in a lake. The poor girl called the police as fast as she could, but..." His expression suddenly dropped into a smile that hid disappointment, "...we could only save one of you. The other had been dead before we arrived."

I hesitated, trying to remember the events of this lake, but I only pull a blank, "...Who exactly was this person?"

The doctor sighed, "We aren't for certain. The body held no identification, but once the autopsy makes some progress, we should have our answer." He tried to reassure me. He shook his head, "What we've gathered so far is that the other person with you was trying to save you from something."

"Save me...?" Someone died trying to save my life? How awful...they sacrificed themselves for me. My gut twisted at the thought, but I forced my regret away, "What were they saving me from?" I finally ask.

Another head shake, "The investigation is still taking place, but don't worry. Who whatever did this will be taken care of."

"...Thank you, doctor." He began to check my vitals. My arm wobbled beside me weakly, slowly resisting to hold my body steady. I feel as if I had been fighting a war...was someone trying to kill me? But they managed to kill my savior instead.... I must be careful when I'm discharged, there may be a murderer after me....

Being released from the hospital after an endless, claustrophobic week made me feel free. My body felt as if a weight had been lifted from it, as if I could I could now soar through the air. The scratch of my keys on the front door was music to my ears, and the chime of the house alarm had never sounded so welcoming. I stepped into my warm home and locked the door behind me. The summer days had thankfully kept each room at a comfortable temperature.

It's evening now, and I have work tomorrow. I guess I'll go to bed so I can be sure to wake up on time in the morning. It's nice having my own restroom to use and bed to sleep in again. These old, crooked springs have never felt softer in my life. Sleepily, my eyes fluttered shut, and I allow my puffy cloud to carry me into the land of dreams....

Please, come back.

I shot out of bed drenched in cold sweat. I found breathing to be difficult, as if a knife had been thrust into my lungs. But I remind myself, it was just a dream. But why has it recurred? That was definitely the same dream I had while in the hospital, a distant, icy blue hand reaching towards me from the vast, empty darkness. A soft, warm breath whispering into my ear....

I sighed heavily, relaxing my head in my hands. Then my eyes darted for my phone. Two hours before my alarm will go off. Well...I'm wide awake, I might as well get out of bed now. I threw off the covers,

*RINGALINGALING*

My heart leapt from my chest as my ringtone sounded loudly. Another sigh escaped me, and I felt my soul drool away from my body as I trudged to grab the cold phone. It was a co-worker, but why call so early in the morning? "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"  Her voice came in half worry, half wide-awake delight.  It was nice hearing her so happy, but it filled me with a sort of dread all the same. How are people this chipper so early in the morning?

"I'm fine." I replied, "I just had a weird dream."

"I was wondering why you sounded so out of it." She laughed. The irritated thought of "I'm also awake before the sun is up" crossed my mind suddenly. "What was your dream about?"

I shook my head as if she were in the room with me, "I'm not sure, I don't think I remember it all. The only thing I recall seeing was a blue hand reaching towards me from a dark area."

"Ooh, a blue hand?" She snickered, "How paranormal! Maybe you need a priest to perform an exorcism on you! Perhaps someone's trying to hauuuunt youuu~"

"No-" I tried to interrupt, but she just continued to laugh at her own charade.

"Maybe you should get a Ouija board and try to talk to it!" She suggested, as if that was completely normal, "It may want you to help it.-"

"You're ridiculous." I cut her off with a scoff.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." She was silent for a moment, "...I bet it's just your stress getting to you. I mean, you were rescued from that pond when the other person wasn't. Once this blows over, I bet you'll be okay."

I sighed lightly, "...I suppose so. Alright." That's right...it's all in my head....

"Are you coming to work today?" She continued, "Or are you gonna take off since you don't feel well?"

I left my bedroom to grab my toothbrush, "I'm going. I'm fine enough to go now, so I'm going." I hesitated, "...'Sides, I need the money."

She laughed heartily, "Don't we all?" We said our goodbyes and I ended the call. After, I got ready for work and made breakfast. I ate, then I checked my phone for the daily news. When I had finished shaking my head at what's going on the U.S., I head off to work. Life is back to normal.

With a trudge in my step, I sleepily unlocked my door and entered my home. Work was absolutely fabulous today, and I now regret not taking my coworker's suggestion and taking off. At least I'm home now, so I can relax and give my brain some time to un-fry itself. I made my way to my comfiest armchair, already beginning to relax at the sight of it. My aching muscles gave way and I flopped happily into my chair.

And then, RINGRING!! Of course, the phone has to ring. Without realizing it, I felt my eyes roll, then I shoved myself back to my feet. I was so frustrated as I picked up the phone, I hadn't realized that it came from an unknown number. "Hello?" I grumbled.

Please, come back. You are

The phone slipped out of my now sweaty palm and I raced to unplug it. The receiver dangled from its cord, and the house was silent, save the blood pumping in my ears. What was that...why was that.... It was the same message from my dream, and or a split second, I saw that hand again...or so I thought? I shook my head. Nonsense, all of it...or maybe that's my paranoia talking? Nonetheless, I headed to the kitchen. Yeah...I just need to de-stress and I'll be just fine.

I peered around. Hmm, what's good for stress relief? Warm milk? Herbal tea? Yeah...that sounds good. I'll make a cup of that. I took some time to take deep breaths, then I grabbed the fiery mug and headed for the TV. I set the mug down and plunked into my comfy chair, adjusting a bit to settle in, then started flipping through channels lazily.

What should I watch? Let's see...Some stupid TV show, a movie I've already seen, commercial, commercial, commercial, commercial, golf channel? I stopped for a moment to observe. A man in khakis and a pink polo watched in horror as his ball headed for a pond. I shrugged and began to flip the channels...wait. No no no, I know I saw it. I stood from my chair as I turned back to the gold channel. The spectators complained about the shot in the background, but what about the pond? I know I saw something there...a blue figure rising from the water...

I turned the TV off. No, this isn't happening. Maybe I need to find some other way to relax. Maybe...

*Bzzzt Bzzzt*

My phone vibrated in my pocket, alerting me of a text message. I pull it out and found my inbox, then a chill crept down my spine. I shivered suddenly; when did it get so cold in this room? The message came from an unknown sender, and the first few characters I see are all tildes. I open the message without thinking and, three lines down in the center of the message filled with dozens of tildes, was a cryptic message that stopped my heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~ERASED~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A gasp escaped me and I jumped back. My hand released the phone and let it shatter into pieces on the ground. "Ah s**t...", I mumble to myself. I hurried to find my broom and dustpan, then cleaned the mess up. The air is still frozen, and I'm now in no mood to try and "relax" anymore. It's late, I'm tired...I'm going to bed, and this will all disappear when I wake up tomorrow.

Please, come back. You are my

*BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP*

I rocketed out of my bed, heaving and wiping cold sweat from my body. Thank God my alarm saved me...that hand...it was so close to my face, I could feel a chilling aura emitting from it...even thinking about it makes my spine tingle in fear. But...enough about that, I needed to get ready for work. I seized my toothbrush with a shaky hand, then headed to my front door. I flicked off the porch lights, a sense of dread creeping up onto me. What in the world is wrong with me...?

Suddenly, the TV turned itself on behind me. I flinched, and turned to face it slowly. It was a news station. The news pair were discussing...discussing the events at the lake. They had finally identified the victim, and a picture was placed on the screen. The rest of their chatter drowned out as I tried to recognize the face in the photo.

A clatter behind me grabbed my attention. An old yearbook had fallen off of a shelf, but I don't remember setting there.... It was flipped open to a class, my class, when I was in grade school. A red circle immediately caught my attention. I checked the name of the student in the book, then I looked over at the TV once more. The names...matched.

...That's right. The person that died, that saved me from drowning...they were my friend. We played together and grew up together. We played sports and we used to hang out together all the time. When we graduated, we had to stop seeing each other for a while...but what was the reason? I guess life just got in our way. Yeah...that's right.

This person was my best friend.

That must be why I saw the that hand, and heard that voice...it's their voice. They must want to see me again, to talk to me one last time. And here, all this time I had been so worried, so frightened! When all along, they just wanted simply to communicate with me. How foolish I am... I gave out a light chuckle, finishing my morning preparation for work. I must stop by the lake on the way to give my condolences. My poor friend has waited so long to see me. But...what is this sense of dread I'm feeling?

Please, come back, You are my precious

Their voice echoed in my head once more as I stepped under the police tape sealing the area off from civilians. "I'm here, my friend." I whispered as I kneeled  to the lake's edge. A small fish swam to the top for a moment and touched the top of the water, sending a light ripple around the side of the lake. As it swum away, the word "fishing" crossed my mind, then a chill crawled down my back.

...I remember. I remember everything, and my eyes grew wide as the horrible memory played back in my mind. My friend, my dear friend whom I've held precious for such a long time in my life...filthy wretch. They don't even deserve to be referred to as a human. After we had parted ways in high school, we met again...and oh, what a lucky little s**t they were. Ever since we had met, they were always perfect, always the lucky one, always a kiss-a*s.... They stole my long-time crush, my ideal lover, they had my dream job, they lived the perfect, cushy life...the life that belonged to me.

They lived on like normal, as if I was supposed to pretend that they weren't living my ideal life. How...how could God be so cruel? Why did God give my dream away?! ...They asked me one day if I would like to spend some time with them, to catch up on things since it had been so long. They suggested fishing, and I agreed. I thought it'd be the perfect opportunity...to erase them.

That's right...

I killed my "best" friend.

...my precious...

An icy blue hand blasted from the water and seized my neck in a cold, firm, slimy grip. Warm, venomous breath blew onto my face as a pair of fish-eaten eyes shoved themselves into mine.

 

...FRIEND

Author's Note

So
I made this for my writing group and...it wasn't exactly received well. I got messages that told me that they liked the idea, but it was /very/ poorly executed, from unnecessary dialogue to confusion with the storytelling and, the biggest one by far, a mass mix of past and present tense that they had trouble keeping up with.

Now, I made this a while ago but finally got the gumption to edit it and once again, I ask for anyone to help me fix any issues you can see in the story.

It's /supposed/ to be a kind of story that makes you feel it, as if you are reading your own tale of demise, which is why the "friend" is left genderless. However, I had complications trying to make it a "fill-in-the-blank"-esque story and I'm wondering if I should just substitute characters in for what should be the reader and the "friend".

I would greatly appreciate any and all critiques if you could spare a moment to write one, no matter how harsh or how short. I really want to make this a story that my readers will enjoy. Thank you.