Phillip and Eileen.

Phillip and Eileen.

Trigger Warning- Suspense, Brief Nudity, Some Sexual References, Suicide, and Death lie ahead. Inspired by two good friends, and one of my favorite songs.

Introduction from Phillip- The beauty of it all is that she made it back to me.

Part One- Inside.

Knock. Knock. Bang! Bang! She hit so hard on the coffin door. Anxious to get out, Eileen pulled the string, and the bell rang! Alert! Alert! She begged. Please! Please! Dig me out! Dig me out! Oh, God! Then she stopped breathing again.

Part Two- It Was A Beautiful Wedding. 

Phillip did not want a cliff side wedding. He was afraid the demons would drive him to jump off the cliff, but he went through it just the same, but he did not have a good time. He just kept staring at the cliff thinking of leaping to his death. The thoughts jolted him physically. The adrenaline rushed through his veins, and he dripped sweat in fear that he might actually jump.

”Babe, look at me.” Laughed Eileen as she playfully grabbed his face, and directed it towards her. “I love you.” she said, but he turned his head towards the ocean. He wanted to dive in naked. He did not care who saw.

Eileen had no instructions on how to handle wedding night affairs. It was all new to her, of course, and she did not know if she could handle it. Any pressure on her chest could cause her not to breathe. Sex scared her, because in every video she had seen, the women screamed. Sadly, there was no cure for her condition. Breathlessly, and tired, and ready for rest, Eileen said to Phillip who was all spaced out,

“I do.” And the crowd simply roared. Then she whispered in her lover’s ear, “Let’s leave. Now. I’m ready for you right now!” The beloved couple was about to kiss when a large gust of wind blew over a few of the light picnic tables. Eileen tried to take a deep breath. An omen? She thought. Then she gave her new husband a peck on the cheek. Simple. Quick, but he deeply wanted more. 

Eileen then whispered, “I will love you until my dying breath.”

Part Three- Phillip.

He knew she had problems, but he wanted her just the same. He used to have a thing for Lula- the girl across the street, but she never touched him. Would not even hold his hand. Now, Eileen was the apple of his eye. Stunning. Beautiful. She gave him intense massages, and she loved every minute of it. He encouraged her to go take massage classes and get certified. She was so great. Great at everything she did, but being bad at tests- she worried that certification was not going to happen.

“Thirty dollars.” she said. 

“Have dinner with me. Now.” said Phillip.

“I… I have another…”

”And sing something for me. Now.” And she did. Some people do not like being told what to do, but Eileen liked what she saw, and she knew she could pull off singing her favorite song. Phillip was a looker. Hot actually, and they got engaged shortly thereafter. They were a match. Tons in common, but soon they would pass, and that would be that.

Part Four- I Can’t Breathe!

“If I don’t pay attention to my breathing- I forget to breathe. Singing helps, but I can’t find the right songs to sing.” Eileen confided in her physician. “I don’t know what to do, and I’m so hard on myself when I sing. If I mess up- I stop right there, though I know I should continue.”

“You look fine, and your oxygen levels are normal. Do you do breathing exercises?” asked her physician.

“No! They make me panic- then I cry, and if I cry too much or laugh too much- I can have a seizure! I am here trying not to die!”

”Would you like an inhaler prescription?”

“I just don’t want to die!”

Part Five- Music to the Ears.

“Calling to Me,” by Nathan Halpern featuring Emily Forsythe was the song Eileen picked. Short, but beautiful. As she lay in her coffin- she sang out the lyrics, and she pulled on the string, and soon she heard a thump. Then another thump, and another. Shovels!

Part Six- “We Buried You!”

“And when your heart is open- it’s an open wound.” Were the last lyrics Eileen sang underground. She had a beautiful voice, and the grave diggers wanted to hear more once they took her from the ground. She was perfect. Hair and makeup had done a wonderful job on what they thought was her dead corpse. They all could not believe she was alive. 

“We buried you! You’re safe now.” One said as he gave her the best hug she had ever received. “Breathe in. Breathe out. There you go. You’re out of there.”

Part Seven- Back to Phillip, and Her Cause of Death.

Phillip never dreamed a kiss could kill a person, but it did.. 

“Can I take this veil off of your face? I want to see you. I want to kiss you again.” he said.

Short of breath, Eileen managed to say, 

“Yes.” Nervous, she said, “Please don’t put any pressure on my chest tonight for I’ll struggle to breathe. With the devil on my back causing me to struggle- I love you so much that- if I have to- I will give you my dying breath with the proper kiss- just don’t place me on my stomach, or I’ll be a goner. I swear.”

As he closed in to kiss her, she took a deep breath. The deepest she had ever taken. Then there was French kissing, and a happy wedding night, but the following morning, Eileen made her favorite scrambled eggs. She fed them to Phillip in bed.

“I think I really do love you.” she said as he took another bite. Then she kissed him deeply. He still had his mouth full, but it was the exact kiss he had been craving at the wedding. Then something happened. “Umm, I can’t breathe. I can’t catch my breath. You took it away!” 

These were her last words. Death! At least that is what we all thought.

Part Eight- Resurrection!

It was her. It was Eileen! She was alive!

“I thought you were dead!” said Phillip after they dug Eileen up.

“What is happening?!” Eileen said, “I shall sing you a song for I cannot catch my breath. Can you do me a favor? Watch me. Keep an eye on me as I am for sure slowly dying. I shall die again soon. Tis the curse of Ondine. I shall surely die again. It is up to you, Phillip, to keep me here, and if I do die- can you bury me at sea? I can hear it calling to me.” Then she began to sing once again the chilling tune, “But I can hear you calling to me.” Then she succumbed one final time. Breathless, Eileen was gone. Devastated, Phillip, who had that impulse to jump off of high places, climbed the ladder to the top of the highest bridge he could find. It was deep in the woods where he liked to be. He stripped naked.

“She’s died twice! Twice!” And as he put one leg over the ledge. The demons whispered,

“Go for it! Jump! Go now!”

Then the next leg went over, and he jumped. He hit the cold, icy waters with a hard splat. Gone was he. It was his end, and like Eileen, he knew what it was like to take that final last breath- the breaths we all take for granted. 

Part Nine- Death! All Shall Face Death Until the End of Times!

There was Phillip, and when Eileen saw him standing in limbo court- she wept. Stripped bare before strangers- he had been sentenced to Hell for destruction of the body. Suicide equals Hell, and Phillip saw Eileen in the courtroom. At least he got to see her one last time.

“The beauty of it all is that you made it back to me.” Phillip mouthed to Eileen.

As she watched from Heaven, she sang from her favorite song.

“I know you’re in no hurry to the bleak beyond.” Her favorite song. Her favorite lyric. She would keep her eye on him from above until the day God snuffed out his soul with the stomp of His foot, thus sending him straight into the lake of fire where even his soul would be gone forever.

“Eileen!” screamed Phillip.

And she sang once again from her favorite song,

“I can hear you calling to me! I cannot close my eyes, but I can hear you calling to me!”