[ IP ] Beautiful escape [ ex-post from /r/MorbidlyBeautiful/ ]

`` Come home, baby. It's time to come home.'' The sound of her tantalizing whispers begged for him just as much as the words itself. His heart pangs for the way each sound rolled off her tongue and succulent lips. It hurts thinking about her. It shreds itself into a million pieces thinking about his perfect life before all of this. He observes his mysterious surroundings. He's standing in front of a strikingly lavish room. A magnificent table with an equally majestic couch take up the majority of his view. Every detail is breathtaking and amazing, from the walls to the rug. It's a fitting room for her flawlessness. 
 
 His reminiscing of her is broken by the woman herself. She appears on the couch, dressed in a white, silk dress that runs down every contour of her body. Her layered, brown hair is as luscious as he remembers. And her smile. How could he ever forget her smile. The way the sun managed to bounce off her pearly, white teeth combined with how her smile stretched from cheek to cheek sent shivers down his spine and butterflies into his stomach. Her soft blue eyes gently hugged his soul. Warmth and radiance emitted from just her looks alone. 
 
'I love you, dear. Why wo n't you come home?'' She inquired. However he could not muster a response. Almost every shred of part of his body told him to go home. And yet... something anchored him down. 
 
 `` I love you too, dear.'' He started. `` But...'' An awkward silence ensued as he continued to muster his strength. Tears started to fall from his eyes and he could not force the words to come out of him. `` But I ca n't. Not yet at least.'' 
 
 His words did not seem to elicit emotions from her. 
 She was as patient as ever. 
 
 `` Look around you, love. Your life is in ruins. Last month, you lost your job. This month, you will lose your house. And the following month, you will lose your car.'' 
 She was as sharp as ever. 
 
 `` Come join me!'' She pleaded,'before you lose everything you care about.'' 
 She was as pessimistic as ever. 
 
 `` Not everything.'' He quickly interjected. `` I will **not** lose everything I care about.'' 
 
 The great, gold room seemed to dull in color with the terse exchange. He even felt the air turn cold and sour. The luster was apparently vanished. 
 
 She rose from the couch. `` You want me.'' Step. `` You desire me.'' Step. `` You need me.'' Step. They faced each other with palpable tension. He only glared at her with hard eyes and a confused soul. *Why did he hate her so much? And if he hated her.. how could he love her so much? * While he was scrambled in his thoughts, she reached past him and produced a thick noose out of nothing. She laid it over his head and onto his neck carefully. He allowed it. 
 
 She simply said, `` Baby. Come home.'' And somehow that made the room feel grand and comforting again. The walls were n't dilapidated and disgusting. The air was n't sharp and rank. The luster was back. `` That's good, baby. Close your eyes. Relax.'' 
 
 
 He felt the anchor in his soul lifting as his eyes drooped. 
 
 `` It'll be over quickly. Trust me.'' She assured him as she fastened the knot. 
 
 He felt uncomfortable, but her words were so comforting. Like he knew he was going down a waterfall, but he felt like he was drifting down a river. 
 
 `` It'll just be you and me. Just like the good, old times. You just have to come home.'' She sweetly spoke, as she ushered him onto the magnificent, wooden table. 
 
 *Just you and me. * He smiled. *You... and me... * He frowned. Something was missing. What was missing? *You... me... and... * His suddenly jerked open and his arms shot from his sides and pulled off the noose. 
 
 `` What are you doing?!'' She screeched. `` Do n't you want to be together again? Do n't you want to be a family again? You and me, dear. You and me!'' 
 
 He scrambled off the table and as far away from her as possible. `` No. I love Kasey. Our daughter. She's turning 10 this year, did you know? She needs me. She's my family.'' His heart was racing and his palms were clammy. Time seemed to be moving so fast. 
 
 He stood as tall as he could and scrmabled back to her. `` I miss Emily, my love. I miss her everyday. And I do n't know what you are, but you are n't her. You're not real. Because she's dead. She's been gone for 9 fucking years and I've thought of her for all of it.'' 
 
 He stopped and regained his breath and senses. `` You're just an anchor.'' 
 
 The woman in front of him lost her angelesque appearance and now seemed old, ugly, and despicable. Her once flawless body wrinkled and aged. The hair that once flew in the breeze and smelled of sweetness frayed and knotted into a ragged mess. Finally, her untouchable smile also faded into a wicked scowl with sharp teeth. Her metamorphosis took her from an angel to a demon. A demon of the past. 
 
 He braved his ground and now his eyes shot into her soul. `` You're **not** real.'' And she disappeared. 
 
 A great rush of air filled his lungs and he sighed. `` And I am home.'' As John woke up to see his little angel still sleeping next to him.. 
 
 **End. ** 
 
 I'm still really new to the world of writing so if anyone can constructively criticize that would be awesome! I know I still have a lot to improve on, so sorry if this was n't spectacular; P Thanks for reading! 
 
 e: I drew inspiration from this picture from what I remember about Mal in the movie, Inception. My story was about a man who is dreaming and reunites with his deceased wife. He greatly loves her, but he ponders over her too much and she holds him down from ever going forward in his life. She aggressively suggests for him to kill himself and reunite with her in the afterlife. He almost takes that offer but remembers about his daughter, Kasey. From there he opens his eyes and realizes that this dream with Emily is not real, and Emily is not real. The thing in his dreams is a personification of bottled up guilt, depression, nostalgia, and hopelessness. I used the words anchor and demon/angel to kind of draw how John wakes up and realizes what is what. It's hard to actually explain what I intended for... haha. I also used the character's names at the end of the story to show the'waking up' and make them seem real. 

