An obsession that didn't end in a mental hospital

This story happened about 10 years ago with Beatrice, a cousin of my friend Veronica.

At that time, they were both young girls (both 23-25 years old), cheerful and reckless. In the summer, they usually left for the entire holiday season in some southern city, rented a small apartment there and got a job (both worked in the catering industry). I sometimes broke out for a week or two to visit them, and they always willingly accepted me, because "The more people, the cheaper the accommodation," Beatrice laughed.

That summer, Beatrice met a certain Antonio. He went into the bar where she worked, ordered something, talked, and never parted. According to Beatrice, he is a former naval officer - a tall, broad-shouldered, blue-eyed handsome man with blond curls.

He turned each of their dates into a small holiday – they went sailing, hung out at some super-cool club, or just walked around the park, ate ice cream and let Chinese lanterns into the sky.

Beatrice practically quit her job and threw herself into her magical novel. When I arrived, I found him in his prime. She enthusiastically talked about her beloved Antonio, repeated his jokes and laughed at them. Talked about where they had been, what they had seen, and how wonderful he was.

I was sincerely happy for her and, turning to Veronica, told her that we would soon take a walk at her sister's wedding, which Veronica annoyingly waved away "I've been listening to these fairy tales for the second month, but I don't even hope to look at this prince anymore. Imagine, he doesn't want to get acquainted with me and he doesn't show Beatrice to his friends and relatives!"

Beatrice begins to fervently prove to Veronica that her Antonio is a great romantic and an original, and does not want everything to be like everyone else, and he is preparing a surprise for all of us. To which Veronica began to tease her that, they say, her Antonio does not exist in nature. "Well, I'll show it to you tomorrow!" promised Beatrice. We thought that she would bring him to visit and even set the table for his arrival, but Beatrice appeared alone and solemnly handed us a camera "Look!"

She secretly snapped him when he was distracted by buying ice cream. In front of the ice cream stand was a stooped, incredibly thin guy with a drunken face and some kind of beak instead of a nose. Instead of blond curls, thick reddish tufts grew on his head, and he blindly squinted his "beautiful blue eyes", counting out the change with thin spider legs. "Beatrice, is this a joke?"Veronica asked in confusion. "This is my Antonio!" Beatrice answered proudly.

Veronica and I looked at each other and realized that she was not joking and saw exactly what she described. I think the same thought occurred to us then, but neither Veronica nor I dared to tell the truth, looking at Beatrice's happy face.

Further events developed rapidly. At the weekend, the lovers went on a two-day excursion, and Beatrice returned already a bride. She excitedly told how he proposed to her, tomorrow they would go to apply for registration, make some preparations for the wedding.

The next day, Antonio disappeared and turned off his mobile. It turned out that Beatrice knew nothing about him except his name. What happened to her is indescribable. We've all heard the expression "climbing the wall", but this is the first time I've had to see what it looks like in reality. She heard his voice, jumped up in the middle of the night and tried to run away somewhere. She saw "his face" in the crowd and chased after the stranger, knocking down everything in her path. All this in addition to endless tantrums and attempts to commit suicide. My vacation was ruined. While Veronica was rushing around looking for help, I was guarding Beatrice. Sometimes I caught myself thinking – maybe it would be easier to call a psychiatric hospital? Of course, it was a mean thought, out of desperation. I knew that Beatrice was not crazy and her nerves were strong. Yes, she was probably the most sensible member of our whole company.

A week later, someone gave Beatrice the address of a healer in a nearby village. I went to her alone. A simple yard with all kinds of animals, a simple village house. Knocked – silence.

I went in, called out to the owners – they didn't respond. I left the house, went to look for the owners on the street. I got to the vegetable garden. An aunt of indeterminate age was picking at the ground with her hands. It looked like she was weeding something there. She looked at me, frowning, "What do you want?"

Realizing that I was distracting a person from the case who did not want to be distracted at all, I hurriedly and confusedly laid out the whole story to her. "Beatrice flatly refused to go, maybe you can help, remotely?"

I handed the same photo to Antonio. "We'll do without her," the healer nodded indifferently.

She didn't take the photo in her hands, just squinted; "Look what a jerk. And where did he learn to make a mess in a person's head? Buy a new handkerchief. Let your Beatrice put it on her head and sleep in it all night, and bring it to me in the morning. And take her phone away from her. She shouldn't hear his voice.

It was not difficult to put a scarf on Beatrice's head. While she was sleeping, we changed the SIM card on her phone and entered my old number in the Favorites field, which is also unavailable. In the morning I took the handkerchief to the healer. I caught her sorting seeds. She ordered a handkerchief to be thrown into the oven and water to be brought to her from the well. I did everything I could. She poured water from a bucket into a bottle and gave it to me. And in the evening, the three of us went to the beach, and Veronica and I, as if in jest, generously poured Beatrice with water from that bottle.

To be honest, I didn't really believe this gardener, but I must admit that Beatrice quickly let go, the next day she was already fine, smiling.

A few days later, while helping me pack my suitcase, Beatrice accidentally stumbled upon the same photo at an ice cream stand, looked at it for a long time, and then gave it back "I remembered! Do you know what I thought when I first saw him? What a jerk!"

The story ended well, but the thought does not leave me, if it is so easy, fleetingly, without distracting from your affairs, you can remove damage or trouble from a person, then it is just as easy to bring it? What would have happened to Beatrice if we hadn't been there? And how many girls did this Guy send to the other world?

Thank you for reading my story. Don't forget to share :)