The Divine Connection

THE DIVINE CONNECTION

By

Rebecca Wells Phillips

​The hustle and bustle of the streets was causing too much anxiety for Cindy, and she hoped that moving to the country would be a better environment for her mental health. Living in New York City had been difficult for her because she’d grown up in a small, farming community in South Dakota, and everyone knew everyone else. Her parents had begged her to reconsider going to New York because they’d heard about the high cost of living and considerable crime rates. The biggest criminal in Cindy’s hometown had been the local drunk named Cletis, who liked to strip down naked and masturbate in the streets. However, Cindy now understood why her parents had been so concerned about her safety. With a history of anxiety and depression, the last thing Cindy needed was extra stress and worry. At 26, Cindy had assumed that she would have outgrown the panic attacks or at least learned how to cope with them.However, although she sought counseling, she hadn’t had the best of luck with her psychologist, Brian Shuttle. He continuously pressured her to allow him to hypnotize her to help alleviate her panic attacks. Even though she didn’t want to do it, he finally broke her down enough to convince her to try it. She assumed that the session went off without a hitch, but she hadn’t noticed any change in her anxiety. Strangely, the only thing that she could remember from the session was a vague memory of being held down, but it was probably not real and just a side effect of being hypnotized. Either way, Cindy was finished with Brian and planned to never see him again because he creeped her out, and she didn’t appreciate how much he had badgered her into allowing him to hypnotize her. “Good riddance, BrianStuttle, you freak,” she said aloud as she entered her studio apartment. 

​The 300 square-foot studio apartment was so tiny that it made the few boxes of Cindy’s possessions look like they were taking over the space. “I can’t believe I’ve lived in this godforsaken hole in the wall for a year and not killed myselffrom bumping into walls and furniture legs. I seriously think I broke my toe last night when I stubbed it on the bed frame,” she laughed. DING DONG went the doorbell. “Who on earth could that be?” she asked under her breath. Without thinking, she swung the door open, and standing in the doorway was her psychologist, Brian Stuttle, with a bunch of red roses. Startled, she stuttered, “Bri…Brian, what are you doing here?” Stepping inside and rudely closing the door, he handed her the flowers and stood smiling at her. After a brief silence, he finally spoke, “I wanted to be the first to say goodbye to my favorite patient. I don’t normally make a habit out of visiting unannounced, but I really felt like we made progress in your last session, and I wanted to make sure that you felt the same way.” Cindy was so confused and shocked by Brian’s rude appearance that she didn’t know how to respond. Brian continued, “Honestly, I felt a real connection between us during your hypnosis, and I wanted to show you how to control your anxiety with a few words.” Finding her voice, Cindy replied, “Brian, I don’t think hypnosis did anything for me. Right now, I’m really busy trying to finish packing everything up for the move tomorrow. Thank you for the roses, but I need you to go.” Standing like a statue, Brian held out his hands and said, “I need you to join hands with me. I’m going to show you this one last technique, and then I will happily go.” Cindy was such a pushover and hated conflict, so she held out her hands, anything to get this joker to leave. “Close your eyes and repeat after me. Every time you hear the word ‘goodnight’ you will feel a calm come over you and you will sleep the deepest you’ve ever slept,” he said. After repeating the words, Brian made the sign of the cross on her forehead and kissed her lips. Stunned by his inappropriate behavior, she yelled, “Brian, what the fuck are you doing? Get out!” With a strange, mischievous grin, he responded, “Goodnight.”

​Cindy woke the next morning, so groggy that she could hardly open her eyes. She was wearing nothing except her underwear and strained to remember what had happened last night. As she recalled Brian’s visit and strange behavior, she heard knocking at the door. That’s when she remembered that it was moving day. She jumped out of bed, put on jeans and a t-shirt, and went to the door, making sure to look out the peephole this time. Left alone in a corner of the apartment, Cindy tried to figure out why she was partially naked this morning. She regularly wore a long nightshirt to bed because she was worried about emergencies. If she had to run out of the apartment for some reason, she didn’t want to be caught naked and show up on the evening news. Once the movers had packed up boxes and furniture, they asked her to confirm her address in Cold Spring, New York, and then they were on their way. While alone in her empty apartment, she said, “Goodbye, mediocre memories of New York City, and hello, to a grand new adventure!” As she grabbed the last few personal items from the apartment, she again tried to recall what had happened last night with Brian, but she felt like her memory had been wiped clean.

​While driving her BMW, Cindy thought about her new job as Front Office Supervisor at the small, family-owned hotel, and believed that it would be less stressful than working for the New York City school system. With all her anxiety, she needed a break from the stressful environment found as an employee of the education system. She was only an office worker, but she saw the results of the high pressure and unreasonable expectations placed on the teachers and felt that it was a miserable existence. Additionally, she absolutely couldn’t stand by and watch one more parent mistreat a teacher and the school not intervene on the teacher’s behalf. Cindy finally decided that she needed to focus all her attention on driving and let go of all the negative memories of her old job. More importantly, she needed to try to figure out what had happened last night. As though Brian could hear her thoughts, her cell phone rang, and it was Brian on the other end. Using her hands-free car mount, she instructed Siri to answer the call. “Hello, Brian,” she said. “Well, hello, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well last night?” he asked. After a brief silence, she finally replied, “Yes, I slept very well, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what happened after we held hands. Also, do you know how I ended up only in my underwear?” Laughing creepily, he responded, “Don’t you wish you knew! My technique helped you relax, so I guess you unconsciously removed your clothing and went to bed after I left your apartment. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you safe travelsand let you know that you’ll be missed.” Not knowing how to respond to his non-answer and changing of the subject, she replied, “Yeah, thanks.” There was a brief silence, and then Brian said, “I’ll let you get back to driving. Don’t want you to lose your way. If you get lost, I’ll have to come and find you. Goodbye for now, Cynthia.” Before she could even respond, he had hung up. Thinking to herself, she never remembered him ever calling her “Cynthia” before and felt a strange chill at the way he’d said it. “Alright, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. Everyone knows that Cynthia is the real name for Cindy. As far as his explanation, I have been very tired and stressed, so I probably just forgot about taking off my clothes.”

​Finally arriving at her new home, Cindy was greeted by the movers who were standing outside waiting for her to arrive so they could get paid. Once paid, the movers left quickly, probably eager for lunch. After emptying her items inside the house, Cindy was amazed at the spaciousness of the house. Although it was only 1000 square feet and a little outdated, it seemed like a mansion when compared to her 300 square-foot apartment. Her stomach started to growl, so she decided to run by a fast-food restaurant and grab something quick and easy. Afterwards, she decided to visit the hotel to confirm her work schedule with the owners. Feeling like she’d made the best decision for her mental health, Cindy was excited to start her new job tomorrow, and the owners seemed just as excited. Mr. and Mrs. Butler welcomed Cindy with open arms and took her on a tour of the hotel. “We’ll see you tomorrow at 7 o’clock sharp,” Mrs. Butler said. As Cindy turned to leave, one of the front desk employees yelled, “Cindy, I’ve got a phone message for you.” Turning around, Cindy was confused because she hadn’t told anyone except her parents how to reach her, and they would have called her cell phone. After handing Cindy the handwritten note, the employee quickly went back to the front desk. Cindy waited until she was sitting in her car before looking at the note, perplexed how anyone could know how to reach her. The message read: “Thank you for being the best patient I’ve ever had! Good luck! We’ll talk soon.” Chills ran down her arms as she held the note in her hands. She definitely hadn’t told Brian where she would be working, so how the heck did he find her?

​A few hours after she got home, Cindy had finished putting away everything and organizing her kitchen. “I feel like I’ve runa marathon today. Moving takes a lot out of you, no matter how old you are. I deserve a good nap.” After grabbing a velvetyfleece blanket from the linen closet, she laid down on the couch. Strangely, she fell asleep as soon as her eyes closed, and then came the strange dreams. Cindy could see herself lying in her bed at the apartment, naked from the waist up, and a man straddling her torso. He was caressing her breasts and kissing her face while she lay unresponsive in the bed. The man was saying something incomprehensible, maybe in a different language like Latin. When the man finally got off of her body, he covered her up with the comforter, and that’s when she was able to see his face. It was Brian! Startled awake by the vision, Cindy jumped off the couch and yelled, “Holy shit!” Next came the ding on her cell phone, so she grabbed it off the kitchen bar. When she opened her text messages, she started shaking as she read, “I hope you slept well on the couch. I think your bed is much more comfortable.”

The End