The Friendship between Eileen and Cathy

34-year-old Eileen decided to control her feelings by writing a story. In this story, Cathy, an imaginary friend of Eileen, helps Eileen time after time. Eileen realizes she is never alone.

Eileen received bullying when she was 18 years old and became mentally ill. Then she met a girl named Cathy.

“I want to quit going to university and stay at home,” Eileen said.

“I see. It must be tiring to go to university when you are not feeling well,” said Cathy.

Eileen loved Cathy because she always soothed her feelings.

However, after Eileen became sick, it became much more difficult for her to control her feelings, and she felt like dying every day.

One day, Eileen decided to commit suicide by jumping out of the window in her room, which was on the third floor.

When she opened the window, Cathy was there.

“Cathy, why are you here?” Eileen asked with wide eyes.

“I came to help you. Even if you jump out, you may not die and just get seriously injured.”

“Then what else can I do!?” Eileen shouted.

“Call me whenever you don’t feel well. I’ll always come right away and listen.”

“… Thank you.”

In this way, Eileen did not jump out of the window and consequently, did not get wounded.

After that, Eileen tried to die several times, but Cathy always stopped her from dying.

One day, Eileen asked, “Why do you always save me?”

“That’s because… I am actually an angel. I received bullying ten years ago and felt so depressed that I committed suicide. I feel very regretful about that. So I don’t want you to make the same mistake as me. That is the reason why I always save you.”

“Really.”

“I understand that you are suffering and you want to die. I felt the same way too. Still, I think it’s important for you to live on until the end so that you won’t regret dying like I did."

“I see. That may be true.”

Eileen got married, and since then she stopped making suicidal attempts. Since she had a wonderful husband beside her, she was able to change.

She also kept on talking to Cathy and was able to realize that she was never alone.

She felt very thankful towards these two people.

Eileen realized from her experience with Cathy that it was important to live no matter what. Although her illness did not get very well, since she had Cathy and her husband on her side, she was able to accept it. While being careful not to make her disease any worse, she felt she wanted to keep on living with the people who meant a lot to her.