The Final Revision

Phillippa woke this morning feeling somewhat confused but she just chalks it up to her very vivid and disturbing dream from the night before. She wishes she could stay here in bed all day and just veg out. There is a part of her that would just love that, a day in bed with her hubby and a book. Nothing could be better. She stays in bed for a little longer just looking out the window on her side of the bed and begins to day dream a little. Finally though she feels her day calling for her to get started and with a big stretch she decides it’s time to get out of bed so she can begin her day. She has a few things she has to do before she can begin working on her story again but they shouldn’t take her too long. With a sigh tinged with a longing to stay put she begrudgingly gets out of bed and showers before heading downstairs to eat some breakfast so her day can officially begin.

A couple of hours later with her chores all done she is finally ready to get back to her story. She makes herself a little snack and a tumbler full of lemonade before heading into her office to begin. She has always loved her office and it is by far her favorite room in the house although her bathroom with its massive soaking tub isn’t too far behind. She has spent years decorating her office just the way she wants it from the massive handmade desk to the cheery paint on the walls. Thankfully she had her husband Jon to help her along the way or she would have never gotten it done. She sees him in every inch of her office which is why she loves her office so much. The love they share and put into everything they did in her office and do everyday makes her so happy.

Before she crosses the threshold she sits on the bench in the hall just outside the door to remove her shoes and socks. She loves the feel of the soft lush carpet as it makes its way between her toes. She places her shoes, with her socks inside just under the little bench and out of the way. With that done she makes her way to her desk relishing in the feel of the soft lush carpet under her bare feet. When she reaches her desk she lovingly strokes its surface and smiles. She has always loved her desk not only for its beauty but most importantly because her husband had made the desk for her. His first attempt had been one for himself and while he wasn’t completely happy with that one he had been happy to make her one when she asked him to. He had put so much hard work and love into making the desk that she has cherished it from its completion and will for as long as she lives no matter what.

Ready to begin working she places her things on the desk surface before booting up her computer. She places her tumbler on the coaster she has had on her desk for decades now and where it will remain until it falls apart. She had picked it up on a trip they had taken to Yellowstone many years ago. It had made her so happy when she first saw it in the store and it still does even after all the time that has passed . It brings back so many wonderful memories of the trip that she couldn’t part with it if she wanted to. It had become a part of her writing process almost from the beginning. She doesn’t want to think about how its absence would affect her writing if something were to happen to it.

Still smiling at the memories the coaster brings, Phillippa sits down at her desk. She opens up her web browser to YouTube to find the relaxing music she likes to listen to as she writes. Today’s choice is “Calm Scottish Music with breathtaking landscapes of the Isle of Skye”. She loves the music and the scenery that plays on the screen truly is breathtaking but she doesn’t really watch the screen all that much. She only really needs the music to help center her and put her in the right headspace so she can write more freely.

Phillippa grabs her wireless keyboard, another gift from Jon, and begins writing. As she clicks away the story begins to flow freely as if it is writing itself. She is a little concerned by the turn the story took recently but that is one of the things she truly loves about writing. She enjoys being surprised at what happens next or what trouble her characters get up to from one moment to the next. It makes wanting to get back to the story that much more exciting. The suspense is a definite draw for her even as the writer.

She pauses for a drink and reads back what she had just written. “As Coraleigh walked into the bedroom she was horrified by what she saw before her. There laying in their bed as he always has was her husband Ted but he wasn’t just laying there, he wasn’t sleeping, he was dead. His once beautiful ice blue eyes are clouded and opened wide in terror. There is blood all around his body, on the sheets, dripping from the bedframe onto the floor. She screams and screams then she feels it. She had not heard anything or anyone in the room with her but in mid scream she felt a great pain in her chest. She looks down and there is blood seeping through her clothing. Before she can even think about running she collapses onto the floor and does not get up again.” As she reads she realizes she has just written down part of her dream from the night before. She had not even realized she was doing it at the time but here it is staring her in the face from her computer screen.

After a minute or two Phillippa decides it’s time for a break. The words she wrote have unsettled her too much for her to continue at the moment. She decides to go see if Jon has woken up yet. She walks out of her office, putting on her shoes and socks at the bench outside the door, then walks up to the bedroom that she and Jon share. As she walks up the stairs she begins to feel uneasy the further she walks down the hallway the more afraid she becomes of what awaits her on the other side of their bedroom door.

Just as she reaches the door and opens it she shoots up in bed, her heart beating so hard and fast that she’d swear she is about to explode. She looks over at Jon and he is still sleeping peacefully. She chuckles thinking that he could sleep through just about anything then gets out of bed to begin her day. As she showers she can’t help but wish the dreams would stop. She keeps having the worst dreams, they are so violent. She stays under the hot water a little longer than usual hoping the heat would soothe her troubled mind.

Once she’s finished everything she has to do before she can write she gathers her things to go into her office to begin her writing day. After taking off her shoes and socks she walks to her desk and smiles as she remembers that Jon had made the desk for her. She sits down, turns on her computer, sets her lemonade on the Yellowstone coaster that brings wonderful memories flooding in and finally sits her snack plate next to the keyboard Jon had gotten her.

After starting her video she opens up her story to begin where she had left off. She has to read back a bit to help her get the rhythm of the story again. Although she is still unsettled by what she wrote yesterday she has to re-read the words before she can continue. She picks up right where she left off the day before. “Coraleigh opens the door to her and her husband’s bedroom as she says, “Wake up sleepy head.” She sees that Ted is still in bed but something looks off to her. As Coraleigh moves closer to the bed she discovers that her Ted, her heart, her love is dead. His ice blue eyes are clouded and the area around him is soaked with so much blood. The sheets, both top and bottom are soaked through as is the comforter on top. There is even blood dripping down from the bed.” Phillippa stops instantly and backs away from her keyboard. “What is going on?” She mumbles as she rushes to stand, knocking her chair over in the process. Fearing that what she had just written and dreamt the night before could be prophetic Phillippa rushes to her bedroom to check on Jon, to make sure he is ok.

She takes the stairs as fast as she can, ignoring the dread building in her heart. She doesn’t pause at the door but flings it open. She looks to the bed and laying on the bed is Jon and he is like he had appeared in her dream. She begins to scream and cry then she opens her eyes and bolts up in bed her heart races a mile a minute and she can’t seem to slow her breathing. Still scared she looks over and sees that Jon is in bed with her and he appears to be fine. She puts her hands to her face covering her eyes and tries to calm herself down before she wakes up Jon.

Back in her office again Phillippa is afraid to even start writing for fear of what she will write. The last two times she has written her dreams have made their way into her story but she doesn’t realize that they have until she reads them after she is finished. It is like her dreams hide from her that her subconscious buries them deep until they come out on her computer screen. She doesn’t know if she wants to know what comes next. She’s not sure she is ready to know.

Finally after talking herself into it and out of it she begins to write. She begins slowly at first as if she can avoid the conclusion, as if she can avoid what surely happens next. The words come much faster than she would have liked. When she’s finished she reads what she has written. “Coraleigh looks around for anything she can find to try and stanch the blood flow although Ted is absolutely gone and she doesn’t even know where the blood is coming from. She moves around the bed still screaming but mid scream she suddenly stops. She feels a pain in her chest and looks down. She begins to panic when she sees blood spreading across her shirt, she can also feel it running down her stomach and back. She doesn’t have time to finish her scream or begin again before she falls to her knees then forward onto the once beautiful wood floor of the bedroom. When she falls she manages to turn her face toward the opposite side of the room. She sees someone standing there she would not have suspected would have been capable of doing such a thing.” She stops writing and takes a deep breath. She rushes up the stairs to Jon’s side and again he is dead and again the blood is everywhere. This time she feels the pain, she sees and feels the blood. She feels herself fall to the floor and she sees the person that had killed her and Jon. This time when the light fades from her eyes she does not wake up again she simply lets go. She has finally accepted that this whole time she had been dead, having been murdered along with her husband Jon.

They had been murdered by their longtime friend and neighbor, Peter. She has no idea why nor does she care any longer. She is with Jon now in the happiness, love and light that had been waiting for her all along.