Wish You Were Here
This story explores themes of grief, loss, depression, self-harm, and suicide. Reader discretion is advised
Hey Siri,
Play “I’ll never love again” by Lady Gaga
They were college sweethearts.
He loved her despite all her faults.
She was spoiled, loved fashion, was a hopeless romantic, and she could be very playful, childish and demanding.
He was everything: a law student from a wealthy home, very romantic, and they met after high school at a party.
She was so pretty. Everyone adored her, and although she had haters, she always made those around her laugh, and she cared a lot about her loved ones.
Marilyn and Jean were perfect. They were always together in their free time, always spent the weekends together, went clubbing, ate out, went on beach outings, visited spas, and had weekend getaways at resorts out of town. They had a fairy tale kind of relationship.
Then something happened.
They went for one of their weekend getaways, and while they were coming back, it happened.
They had an accident.
It was fatal.
Jean died on the spot and Marilyn survived after several days of being unconscious.
It was a miracle that she survived, but she woke up wishing she had died.
After people sympathized with her and everything, they went for Jean’s burial service, and there, she cried and cried.
She looked so famished because she couldn’t eat and had been crying all the time. Her parents thought she needed to get her life back, but how was that possible? Jean was her best friend, her brother, boyfriend, and soulmate. How would she be able to live without him?
Then, at his burial, when everyone had left, she sat by his grave and made a promise that, since she couldn’t live without him, she would live her life the way they used to, as if he were still there.
So the days after saw her acting so normal, to the astonishment of everybody. They wondered what had happened, but at least they were glad she was finally okay.
Marilyn got a teddy bear and named it after Jean. She would talk to the teddy when she got back home and act like he responded, just like Jean. She lived like they used to. She was actually going crazy, but no one was observant enough to notice. They were all just happy that she looked okay.
But sometimes she would come back to her senses and realize that Jean was no longer there, and she would cry so hard, cut herself, scream, and wish she were dead.
She attempted suicide once. She took an overdose of drugs, and luckily, a female friend walked into her room and rushed her to the hospital.
Afterward, she acted like everything was normal again. Then she would come back to her senses and become so depressed. This was the cycle until her female friends introduced her to a new guy a year later. They felt she had to move on.
So this guy, Austin, and Marilyn got along well, but they would go out, and when Marilyn got back home, she would tell “Jean” all about it. Then, when she came back to her senses, she would scream, get so mad, and hate Jean for leaving her because no one could ever replace him.
This new guy, Austin, was pretty cool. He thought Marilyn was cool too because she seemed like a normal girl. He didn’t know her dark side. Anytime he tried to get a step closer to her, she would hold back.
This went on until he felt he had to do something. He decided to pay her a surprise visit, get her the things she liked, and then talk to her. He felt surprising her and doing exactly what she loved would get her to trust him and open up.
When he got to her room, he knocked and knocked, then felt there was something wrong. He tried opening the door, but it was locked. He was scared and knew something was wrong. Her car was parked in the parking lot, so he knew she was definitely in there. He forced the door open, and when he entered, she wasn’t in the room.
He walked to the bathroom, and there she was, crying and wailing, looking so miserable, with bruises on her skin. She looked like she was dying and needed help.
When she saw him, she said nothing. She just kept crying.
He carried her out of the bathtub to her bed, and then she fell asleep without saying a word to him.
He got a carpenter to fix her door and, not knowing what to do, decided to leave and come back early the next day to check on her. But he called her friends to come and stay by her side, and sadly, they were all out of town. Ciara was home and said she would be back before midnight to check on her. It was 5:00 p.m. then.
So Austin left.
Unknown to them, Marilyn was planning to die because she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to be with Jean, so she had already typed a suicide letter, but she was scared at first, so she cried, and that’s when Austin found her in the bathtub.
At 10:00 p.m., she woke up.
Ciara was almost at her hostel. She wanted to get to Marilyn’s room quickly enough to check on her, but when she got there, Marilyn wasn’t there. She looked around the room. It was a mess. Then she saw a note on the bed telling her to look through a folder and read something. She did, and there she found the suicide letter.
Marilyn was going to the beach to drown herself, and she couldn’t even swim.
Oh God!
Ciara called Austin and told him. She panicked and was so scared. Austin drove straight to the hostel and picked Ciara up so they could catch up with Marilyn before she did what she intended to do.
Marilyn had left her phone in the room too.
Ciara called Marilyn’s parents. God! They were terrified. They also headed straight to the beach. She called the rest of her friends, and they all headed there too. They wanted to get there early enough to show her a reason to live and let her know they had her back.
But Marilyn was long gone.
Ciara and Austin drove so fast that they got there only fifteen minutes after her. When they arrived, they saw her car. She was really there.
They screamed her name and ran around the whole beach, panicking and looking for her. But they couldn’t find her.
God!!!
Then her parents got there. They also joined in the search. Then Ciara saw Marilyn’s mom crying and wailing. She had seen Marilyn’s slippers, her favorite pair. She had bought them for her.
So Marilyn had really drowned herself.
It was so sad.
The other three friends also came, and everyone couldn’t help but cry. Her mom wanted to go into the sea to find her. Austin wanted to as well, but they had to stop them because it was late, and the possibility of them drowning was high.
So they all sat at the beach, cold, waiting for daybreak. In their hearts, they all hoped she hadn’t entered the water, that she was either at the beach resort or somewhere else.
But they waited and waited, and there was no sign of her.
Then the next day, her body was washed ashore by the waves.
She was there.
The sight of her made her mom scream. Everyone screamed.
Her mom couldn’t take it.
They rushed to her. Her body looked swollen because of the water. She was dead.
It was a very sad and heartbreaking moment.
A few days later, she was buried right beside Jean.
In her letter, she wrote that she couldn’t stay alive if Jean wasn’t by her side, so she had to leave.
Her letter was read at the burial. It contained kind, caring, and apologetic words to all those she loved, but she asked them to forgive her because she had to leave. Her life had lost its meaning, and she was going crazy pretending everything was normal, acting as though Jean were still alive when, in fact, he wasn’t.
Everyone at the burial cried and cried.
Austin cried too.
The story ends here.
Dearest reader,
Did you enjoy reading this? I chanced upon this story I wrote over a decade ago. I’d forgotten I’d ever written it. It made me cry. It’s sad.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
With love,
Ami❤️
About The Author
