The "Three Sides of a Tragedy II" story
- Lukas Cartea
- Mar 20
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 11
Chapter I: High Level of Paranoia
Sara, David’s wife, sits on the couch facing the door. The kids are still sleeping. It’s almost 4 o’clock in the morning.
She tried calling David on the phone many times. Only the answering machine talks back. She wants to believe that his battery died. But that is not what she really believes. She’s starting to lose control over fear.
“Just one call please, let me hear your voice”
“Please come through that door now”
She tried to convince David to stay home that night. Things are getting worse on the streets day by day. But he “knew” what he was doing. He never took that long to return home.
“Where are you”
Every noise made her jump. Now she was staring at her phone. Waiting for the sweet melody of it ringing and having David on the other side of a conversation.
6:30 a.m. Sara was in the kitchen making some coffee. She called David again. And someone answered the phone. Hope filled her body while she asked David where he was and if he was ok.
“David? I’m no David… nice phone he had by the way, he won’t be needing it anymore. I can give it back to you for a reasonable price...”
And laughs… the man at the other end of the call just laughed. Sara hung up and broke apart...
Chapter II: A Confused Mind
All she hears is loud music and noise stuck in her head. She can’t make it stop. She closes her eyes wishing to fall asleep. At least for a while. The only thing she sees are strange yellow blobs floating in her brain and changing their brightness. Like dancing in a thick pool of nothing.
“Go away…”
The song in her head is getting louder and her body feels like it has been invaded by the loud noises.
“What’s happening to me?”
She asks herself while trying to get up from bed. She manages to get up and decides to go to the bathroom. Stands in front of the mirror and splashes some water on her face. She sees her face but can’t recognize it, she sees the water but can’t feel it. It’s like she is looking at herself from a distance while she is standing just in front of her.
“What’s happening to me?!! What’s this!! Who is this?”
She’s scared. She’s losing it. Gladly her body was so tired that it just switched off. It's a way of getting some rest...
Chapter III: Depression Aid
Sara is nearly unconscious. Like hypnotized. Like a puppet. living without the strong will that made her who she used to be.
There is a strange creature looking after her. Thin and tall. Ugly. Each time her feelings start to boil up this creature comes to her. Smiling.
“Shush little one, everything is ok. You don’t need to suffer anymore, I’ll take care of you”.. Shhhh… There you go….”
It caresses her and puts her in the stale state it wants her to be.
The creature doesn’t want her to leave. It needs her where she is right now. And to stay put. Nothing to disturb her…
“SILENCE!!”
Sarah kind of likes this “caring” the creature is giving her. It makes her feel numb, which is what she feels she wants. But it doesn’t keep the loving and sweet feelings to pop out every now and then, a glimpse of hope and happiness.
“Shhhh my dear, you don’t need this. You need to rest, shhhh, here…”
The fire burning inside of Sara is too strong. There’s people who love and need her. She wants to live! She fights off the creature in a moment of clarity.
The creature approaches her with its smiles and words, with the promise of a peaceful life. It is tempting, but Sara does not accept it. She can’t accept it. It is her fate that she needs to accept, and move on.
Sara wakes up.
Chapter IV: To Darkness
Memories… Now that’s all Sara has left of David. Every morning she sees him lying beside her when she opens her eyes. She could see where he was, she could see his smile… she could touch him.
After a short while that sense of happiness disappears. Reality kicks in again.
“Oh… well… good morning nonetheless my love”
Sara does everything she is supposed to do during the day. Work, chores. Tries to spend as much time as she can with the kids. She couldn’t imagine how it was for them. How they felt.
When the day is almost over Sara feels a slight relief. When everything’s dark she can be wherever she wants and dream whatever she needs. She can feel David again while she hugs his pillow.
“Still smells like him…”
She floats with rejoice in a world of their favorite things. She is at peace for a while.
Chapter V: Dad
“Daddy is now a star in the sky”, says Sarah to her kids.
Tina, the little girl, goes out everyday when it starts to get dark to look for her dad. She speaks to him and listens to him though he’s not with them anymore…
It’s time for dinner and all three of them sit by the table. The table was set for four people, probably out of habit. Sara wants to burst in tears when she sees that empty space, but manages to fight the urge back. The little boy does not speak much yet. But still asks for his “dada” every now and then.
When Tina starts feeling sad she looks at her mom and feels comfort. Feels safe. Her little brother is always happy and helps her forget the strange feeling she has and helps her play for a while.
Sometimes she forgets though and asks her dad to read her favorite book before she goes to sleep. Or laughs while watching their favorite film and looks in his direction to share the laughter. When this happens she just feels she wants to be with him and hug him.
But she can’t.
At the end she looks at the stars and knows that they will be together again. She’ll become a star someday after all. She just has to wait.
Chapter VI: Restless Sleep
After the day is over it is time to relax. The chores are done, the kids are in bed and the job for the day is over. The only issue is that when people get to relax, they have time to think and to feel their life again.
Sara does not like when the day ends. The haunting feeling of horror comes back. She tries to sleep nonetheless, she has to sleep…
Her senses are sharp and don’t rest. She hears everything and feels everything. The house noises, her body’s noises. All of that goes directly to her brain, which makes her body stretch and jump every now and then.
She has short moments of sleep but wakes up with fear in her eyes. Every time. She begs to get some sleep, she begs. She talks to the ghosts surrounding her to please let her be till the morning.
“Take my thoughts with you. Take the night’s noise with you. Let me sleep till morning. Please… will you?”
Many restless sleep nights came along making her feel guilty, scared and helpless. The same ghosts came to visit every night and she begged for peace every time.
Chapter VII: Dreams of the Moment After
Sarah had a very special dream one night after her body surrendered and went to sleep. She met David in her dream. She met him just after the moment he was killed. She could see him and herself in this dream, like a movie running in her head.
It was really quiet and kind of dark. A blue-ish light covered the whole scene. He was still on the street he got murdered on, only that he was standing and looking around.
“Where am I, can someone tell me?”
No one told him, of course. In this dream David realized he was no more, at least as he understood life worked.
Now they were suddenly at their home. Sarah saw herself sitting on the couch. David crouched in front of her trying to reach her. He spoke to Sarah, tried to touch her, tried to kiss her… Sarah didn’t feel anything at all. Sarah couldn’t see him nor hear him, but he could see and hear her.
“Is this right? Is it ok for this to happen now? Do I have to leave everything behind?”
Sarah saw him make all these questions with no one to answer them. Strangely it didn’t feel wrong. It was very strange.
The scene changed. It was a really nice day. David stood under the sunlight waiting for Sarah to come to him. Smiling, always smiling. Sarah went to him and hugged him. He was warm and soft. It was a really nice feeling, one she missed too much. They could see, hear and feel each other now.
“Hello my love”
Sarah looks at him. He has this peaceful and happy expression on his face.
“I am going home now. You don’t need to worry and suffer anymore. I feel really good!”
David’s smile gets wider and his eyes glow with joy.
“I’ll see you there soon! Continue living and be as you are. This is just a part of everything. Give my love to the kids!”
They have a last hug. Even Sarah was happy now. She waves goodbye as David disappears into the light. It even felt like she was disappearing into it. Like a big window opening over the hole she was in before. Peace?
Chapter VIII: Farewell
It was a rough path to acceptance, but, at last, the darkest time is over. Of course they still miss their dad. Of course she still longs for her husband. There was a lot of suffering and a lot to learn.
Life flies by and we make many mistakes and we never get to know enough to avoid them. Maybe that’s what life is all about after all. Maybe we never get to know everything about someone and some things. And it is very nice to have someone to go through life with, sharing doubts and certainties.
Nothing lasts forever and it is good to know that; accept it. It is ok to imagine and dream about the things we want and to believe in them. It is awesome to believe in a last goodbye and, thus, live it. A goodbye full of feelings and wisdom and "epicness"!
Sarah managed to have her last goodbye in her own way. She was at peace with the tragedy that they went through. She was ready to move on.
Chapter IX: Thanks
Tina made a new drawing. And everyone was in it!
She’s so happy with it that decides to hang it in her bedroom to look at it everyday. smiles
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