Rewrite Our Love Psalm

 

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“Amen I say to thee, thou shalt not go out from thence till thou repay the last farthing.” – Matthew 5:26

 

There are some mistakes that weigh a person down more than others. Alonzo has committed many of these sins that have distanced him from his wife, Cora. Overcome with grief, he repents on his knees and promises to make amends for his actions. While looking for a solution that will prevent the mistake from ever happening again, he comes across information about a ritual that could solve all his problems. It’s called the Love Psalm and it can erase the events and consequences of the past as if they never happened. Alonzo seeks a mystic who can do this for him, and she shows him his current Love Psalm. Waving her hands around two dolls on the table between them, the featureless dolls take the appearance of Alonzo and his wife who start to sing and move around in abnormal ways.

“I'll just be plain about it

You're better off without me

Everything I've touched I've ruined

I'm everything a sinner is and a hypocrite

 

You are everything to me

While I'm nothing and nobody

I cause you pain and make you grieve

Do yourself a favor and just leave

 

I'm broken and you are beauty

Two wrongs that don't make a right

I want you with me

But I don't want you to fall too

I am Hell, you are Heaven

I am despair, you are hope 

I am broken and you are beauty

 

Lust in my eyes

Anger in yours

People as objects for my use

My sins have no excuse

 

You are everything to me

While I'm nothing and nobody

I cause you pain and make you grieve

Do yourself a favor and just leave

 

I'm broken and you are beauty

Two wrongs that don't make a right

I want you with me

But I don't want you to fall too

I am Hell, you are Heaven

I am despair, you are hope

I am broken, you are beauty

 

Why do I ruin everything?

How can I ever be fixed?

You've tried and failed

Time and time again we fail to connect

 

You were once a beauty now you seem closer to a beast

Look at what I've done to you

Do me this one last favor and

Sever the ties before it's too late

 

You are everything to me

While I'm nothing and nobody

I cause you pain and make you grieve

Do yourself a favor and just leave

 

I'm broken and you are beauty

Two wrongs that don't make a right

I want you with me

But I don't want you to fall too

I am Hell, you are Heaven

I am despair, you are hope

I am broken, you are beauty

 

Leave!

Just leave!”

 

 Hearing this song reminds Alonzo of all his failures and only makes him want to get the ritual over with faster.

“I don’t need to be reminded of this. Can we get this over with already with, please?” he says.

“We can, but I must remind you of the repercussions of your actions. Your sins and your weakness to them will disappear along with those of your wife’s, but they will find a way to manifest in different ways,” the mystic reminds.

“We’ll deal with it.”

“Then tell me the words by which your Love Psalm will be rewritten.”

“I take full responsibility for my actions and the future and present actions of the one I love.”

Upon speaking these words, the dolls violently bend and twist as a dark smoke is released from them. Alonzo feels this release as well, and even though he doesn’t know it, Cora also feels this release of dark energy.

“It is done,” the mystic says.

“Th-thank you so much,” Alonzo says as he pays her with an additional tip.

He then goes through his day like normal. Cora also does the same until they both come back home from work. At the sight of one another, they feel closer and not immediately bothered. They even hug and kiss each other and are then shocked by it since they did so without thinking and because they haven’t had any physical contact in a while.

“How was your day?” Alonzo asks.

“Nothing but the usual,” Cora answers, “Having nothing happen is almost as annoying is as annoying as dealing with difficult customers. What about you? How was your day?”

“Pretty good actually because there aren’t as many bugs in the gardens that I worked in since winter is coming.”

“So nothing is bugging you as of late?”

“No, haha, nothing.”

The joke was bad, but Alonzo appreciates it nonetheless since Cora said it to make him laugh while Cora is happy to have made him chuckle and smile. Both are more than happy now just seeing the smiles on each other’s faces as it feels like their love has been rekindled.

“What bugs me is how every day seems to be the same in this town.”

“You’d rather go live in the city?”

“No, the quietness is the reason we moved here after all.”

“So what is it then?”

“I don’t know I just want to talk to you about something.”

“I’m sure you have plenty of rumors to share.”

“I don’t feel like sharing any gossip for some reason. I want to talk about more positive things.”

Alonzo is relieved to see a big change in Cora since she usually likes gossiping.

“You’re looking more beautiful than usual.”

“And I have to say that you’re looking better too. People at work have been saying the same for some reason. I don’t know what happened. I feel completely different and I’m not sure why. It’s really bothering me.”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes, better than okay actually.”

“Then you shouldn’t worry about it. How about we go out for a walk?”

“I’d like that actually.”

As Alonzo and Cora exit their house, they automatically hold each other’s hands. It’s been a while since this has happened. For them, it’s been strange but also comforting. Certain behaviors of theirs are also noticeably gone. Alonzo doesn’t instinctively look at every other pretty girl on the street and Cora doesn’t mention what other people are talking about. Even though they hardly talk to one another while walking around, they’re happy enough to be walking around while holding each other’s hands. This relieves the worry that Cora is feeling because of her sudden change while Alonzo is happy to be free from his faults and to see Cora being happy.

When they get home, they watch TV and relax in each other’s arms. Their presence has become so relaxing to one another that they fall asleep and stay sleeping until they have to wake up the next morning. Despite sleeping on the couch in a somewhat uncomfortable position, they wake up feeling more rested than usual and ready to face the day. They kiss each other when they wake up then go about their daily morning routine before seeing each other off to work. Alonzo breathes in the new day and looks up to the sky with a feeling of satisfaction at making his and his wife’s life better.

His high hopes for a bright future don’t last long as he gets a call to work on a strange tree that has suddenly appeared on a hill outside of town. Looking at the tree from afar as he drives to it weirds him out and getting close to it only gives him the chills. The tree is white and has leafless branches that look like human figures. An officer from the town is waiting by the tree for Alonzo and turns to him to say hi before turning back to look back at the tree.

“What do you think?” the officer says.

“I’m not the tree expert in this town so I can only guess. Did you try calling them?”

“I did and they don’t know what to make of it. That’s why I called you.”

“I may have some experience working on trees, but this…”

“Just give me your opinion.”

“Let me take a closer look.” Alonzo touches the tree. “It feels like skin. Like touching a human person, and I think I feel a heart-beat. Several actually.”

“Huh.”

Alonzo then uses one of his gardening tools to see what it would do to the bark. He stabs it and the tree recoils a bit as if in pain and bleeds a red liquid.

“Is this blood? It smells like it.”

“So what do you think? Should we remove it?”

“I don’t know if it’s dangerous or anything. How did it get here? I don’t remember it being here.”

“Neither do I. I got reports about it this morning and no one knows how this tree got here. It doesn’t seem like anyone planted it here recently.”

“I say remove it to be safe. Maybe we can use it when Halloween comes around.”

“That seems to be the expert’s consensus. Thanks for making it out here.”

“Any time.”

“Oh, and when are Cora and you going to have a baby?”

“Huh? We don’t know yet. Doesn’t seem like God wants to bless us with one yet.”

“My family will be praying for you like always. See ya later, bud.”

“See ya.”

Seeing this officer act so nice to him weirds out Alonzo almost as much as the tree, especially after what Alonzo did with his wife. As he passes by the officer’s car, he sees only two bear keychains hanging on the rearview mirror instead of three. Alonzo feels relieved, but still shocked at seeing the consequences of his past erased. He goes back to work and at the end of the day passes by a truck that is carrying the white tree away. The tree leaves a trail of red as it is transported away to be used or disposed of. A thought then comes to him about his sins and the sins of his wife manifesting themselves, but then immediately tries to calm down and thinks that if the tree is the only manifestation then he shouldn’t worry about it since it’s being dealt with.

Just like yesterday, Alonzo and Cora are happy to see each other and talk about the day’s events.

“A white tree that bleeds and has branches that look like people? That’s weird,” Cora says.

“You don’t sound like it weirds you out that much. You have something weirder that you saw?”

“Yeah, you know Jessy?”

“Is she giving you trouble again?”

“No, for once, but um. Okay, let me explain it. When I saw her, I didn’t feel disgusted and I couldn’t bring myself to act nasty to her. Instead, I acted nicely as if she was a normal customer.”

“As you should.”

“Right, but even she was acting nice and was wondering why I was acting weird. I talked to her about what we fought about before, and she didn’t know what I was talking about and said that we resolved our arguments and are friends now.”

“That’s strange, but also fine. Let her think so matters will be settled between you.”

“You’re right. I may be just remembering things weirdly. Speaking about that, when did the gardens you worked in start producing so much? I didn’t notice that we have more than we usually do in the stockroom.”

Not wanting to disturb Cora with another major change, Alonzo says, “Oh, well God has been better to us than this year in terms of production.”

“That’s great since we’ve been getting more customers than usual.”

They then talk about other mundane daily events just to hear each other speaking and smiling before heading off to bed. While he looks out the window to his garden, Alonzo imagines the white tree from before as it has become stuck in his mind. He falls asleep and wakes up the next morning to see that it is not just his imagination seeing the tree, but the white tree is now physically in his garden. While opening the window to be sure it is there, he looks around to see that there are more white trees in the town, especially around the houses of people that he knows.

Going outside to check the white tree, Alonzo finds that it’s exactly like the tree he saw before. Cora wakes up to see it as well.

Alonzo explains that, “I don’t know why they’re all over the place now.”

“I guess we should just call someone to dig them out. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Even more trees in the town.”

“I guess, but it doesn’t mean that would happen.”

Alonzo calls a lumberjack only to hear that everyone already dispatched to cut down the white trees in the town.

“Cutting down these trees is actually simpler than it seems,” the lumberjack on the phone says, “The tree itself is not as tough as the bark on a tree. It’s more like cutting meat so you don’t need anything to fancy to cut it down. You have an ax or a chainsaw?”

“Yeah, I got both.”

“Then you have everything you need though if you can’t handle the sight of blood, then I can send a man down there in five hours give or take.”

“Nah, I can do it. Thanks anyway.”

Alonzo gets his ax and starts chopping away at the white tree. Blood splatters everywhere as the faint sound of screams and moans come from the tree. Cora watches Alonzo do this until she decides to pitch in.

“I’ll help you, Alonzo,” she says as she picks up a spare ax.

“You don’t have to. You’re going to get as messy as I am.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just take a shower after.”

Cora tries to help cut down the tree though she isn’t doing it as well as she usually does, and Alonzo sees this.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

She typically releases the anger within her to cut down trees and do other strenuous tasks, but since she doesn’t have that anger, it’s harder for her to cut down the tree. The tree falls down and what appears to be guts spill out of it.

“Eck. You’re cleaning this up,” Cora says as she heads back in.

Alonzo doesn’t mind cleaning it up since he doesn’t want Cora to deal with this mess, however, the white tree, what’s inside of it, and the number of them disturbs him. The trunk of the tree is easily removed and once they’re cleaned up, Alonzo and Cora head off to work though Alonzo is called to cut down the white trees all throughout the town. It’s not as hard as cutting down normal trees though it doesn’t become less disconcerting the more trees he cuts down. The tree companies pick up the trees and transport them to be studied by experts.

Later in the day, Alonzo receives a call before dinner time from his parents to come cut down the white tree near their house. He agrees and tells Cora about the call.

“That was really your parents?” Cora asks.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not sure what’s stranger. The white trees or your parents wanting to see us.”

When they get to Alonzo’s parent's house, they open the door to see them smiling and welcoming them in with open arms and dinner ready on the table. They talk as if none of their fights happened with Cora looking at Alonzo in uncomfortable disbelief from time to time. Once they finish dinner, Cora and Alonzo’s mom stay inside to clean up and continue to talk while Alonzo and his dad go outside to cut down the white tree.

While cutting down the tree, Alonzo asks, “Hey, dad. How come no one came to help you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the other lumberjacks were too busy and forgot about our call. Why? Don’t you want to bond with your dad over cutting down a tree like we always do?”

“This isn’t a normal tree dad. Besides, it’s been a while since we did something like this.”

“It has? Are you becoming an old man already? We just did the garden last week while grilling and drinking beer.”

Alonzo looks over to where the garden is to see that it’s more beautiful than he remembered. It was a wreck the last time he saw it because his dad was so ashamed to find out about Alonzo’s porn addiction that he torn it apart and left it to decay. Looking at the garden gives Alonzo a feeling of relief over being a disappointing son to his dad.

“Oh. I guess we did.”

After cutting down the tree, Alonzo looks through his phone to find that all the pornographic images are gone. He then goes into his room in his parent’s house to find it in pristine condition. Before, it was torn apart and left in ruins because of Alonzo’s actions. Seeing it clean adds to Alonzo’s feeling of relief. Cora goes to check on Alonzo and is surprised to see the state of Alonzo’s room.

“Oh my. The room is so clean. Wasn’t it…,” she says before Alonzo’s mom calls the two down for dessert.

Cora is curious about the room but doesn’t ask Alonzo’s parents since she thinks it may open old wounds. They leave after saying goodbye and head back home.

When they get home, Cora decides to ask, “It’s weird how your room was so pristine. I thought your parents tore that place up.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s not good to have messy rooms in the house. That could invite in bugs, mice, and the like.”

“Right…and they were so nice to us too…”

“It’s not good to look a gift horse in the mouth so let’s not think about it too much and get to bed. I’m tired of cutting down trees all day.”

While Alonzo is taking a bath, Cora goes through his phone to find that all the pornography that she knew was there is now gone along with the lewd pictures of their neighbors that were used as contact photos. Again, she is concerned at the state of things and wants to question Alonzo on why things have been changing so radically in such a fast manner, but her exhaustion over it all makes her put it to the side for now, especially since there’s no logical answer that comes to her mind to explain any of this. She can’t explain the behavior of the people she knows and can’t even explain her own turn in behavior and outlook on life. It’s both disturbing and comforting for her at the same time. After kissing each other goodnight, Cora decides to forget about her concerns and to appreciate her new life.

The two then wake up to a shock to see that the white trees have returned. On top of that, they have branches missing that appear to have recently fallen off with blood trails that lead away from the house and into the town. Alonzo and Cora try to cut down these trees, but the bark is too thick and nothing they have can scratch it. What’s even more concerning is that the tree almost seems to growl and bark at them when they hit it as they hear low versions of these sounds coming from the branches that look like humans. These branches appear to be convulsing as if alive so they try to cut these down to no avail.

The lumberjacks that Alonzo calls don’t give him any advice nor do the other gardeners that he knows. Turning on the news reveals that the town is in a panic especially with news of the people who tried tasting the red liquid that came from the trees. The people who tasted the red liquid became violent, sexual deviants, liars, and gossipers. There are also reports of white creatures that appear similar to the branches of the trees lurking in the darkness and dragging the bodies of people away never to be seen again or at least not seen with any recognizable features. The town’s authorities advise people to stay in as this unknown threat is investigated. Alonzo and Cora decide to stay in for the day as advised especially after hearing something outside and running to see it only to see a body being dragged into a sewer. They take out their guns and their axes and hold them close. Alonzo now starts to regret his decision and it shows on his face.

“We’re going to be okay,” Cora says while hugging Alonzo and kissing him thinking that he’s concerned about the white trees.

“We will. I’m sorry if I’m concerning you.”

“Hm? Is something else is on your mind?”

“I’m just wondering what else we should do.”

What Alonzo says isn’t a lie though he says it not to talk about the Love Psalm.

“We can only do what we can with what little we have. Should someone watch upstairs and someone else watch downstairs?”

“No, I think it would be better if we stay together since we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Cora and Alonzo stay inside all day next to each other and even though they enjoy this, they are uncomfortable with the present situation. Alonzo is even more uncomfortable because he feels like he’ll have to explain what he did eventually. Later in the day, the authorities on the news say that the town is safe as far as they can tell with no sign of the white creatures whatsoever. Alonzo and Cora go out to see what it’s like outside with their guns just in case. The weather is foggier, and the smell of iron permeates the air.

“There’s no one out here,” Cora says while holding onto Alonzo’s arm.

“I don’t blame them.”

On the road, they see a streak of red liquid that appears to be blood. When they look further down the road, they see a large feminine human figure that’s completely white. It has tentacles with eyes on its back and arms with mouths that have eyes in it. Seeing the two, the monster turns around to reveal that it has no eyes on its face. Instead, it has another tentacle eye coming out of its mouth. Rather than face the monster, Alonzo and Cora run away while Alonzo calls the police only to hear that they’re busy at the moment. Turning around, they see that the monster has disappeared without a trace.

Going back home, they huddle up together and don’t fall asleep for the entire night while watching the news to keep them informed and switching to other channels to keep themselves calm. It doesn’t help that they hear the sound of things breaking, people screaming, and fighting every now and then. Cora prays while Alonzo struggles to come to terms with what he has done. Seeing his distress, Cora holds him.

She says, “It’s going to be okay. I’m sure you have the right idea for what we should do so don’t be scared.”

“Right, right.”

As the night goes on, the clock stops, and the power goes off. The trees are now barren with no trunks on them and more noises can be heard from the shadows.

Fearing for her life now, Cora suggests, “We should get out of here. Maybe even leave town.”

“That’s probably not going to help,” Alonzo says while being ready to admit his faults.

“What makes you think that?”

“Because my sins will still find a way to manifest to punish me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I participated in this ritual called the Love Psalm where I gave up our faults and sins. I guess this is the price we pay for it.”

“I’m not sure I should be mad or touched by the fact that you did that.”

“I’m sorry, Cora. I hated the way I was and the things that I did that I wanted an easy way to get rid of it all since what we were doing wasn’t working.”

“You did the ritual by yourself?”

“No, I found a mystic who did it for me.”

“Then let’s find them and get them to change things back to the way they were.”

“That’s the thing though. We’ve been happier than we’ve ever been before. I’m not sure if we can ever be this happy again if we put things back to normal or if it’ll just get worse.”

“…What do you think is the right thing to do?”

“Fix this whole situation and not be selfish about my own relationship.”

“And that’s why I married you. Despite your flaws, you always want to improve and not be held down by your failures. If I forget what we went through, then try to divorce me.”

“Divorce you?”

“Yes. That should make me realize that I need you more than I know. Trust me.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

“Alright. Now, let’s go to that mystic to see if she can fix this.”

Alonzo and Cora walk through the dark streets of the town with large white trees hanging overhead. They avoid all kinds of white monsters and try not to be distracted by their accusatory appearances that remind them of their weaknesses and sins. Making it to the mystic’s house, they find that she’s outside walking away from it.

“Hey!” Alonzo calls out to her.

“Oh, it’s you! Do you now realize the cost of your sins?” she asks.

“Yes, and I want it reversed.”

“Reversed? Even if I can do that, why would you want that? Aren’t you happier with your wife now more than ever?”

“It’s not worth the price everyone has to pay for us. Please, there has to be something you can do.”

“You!” a priest holding a gun says from the distance, “I knew you had something to do with this!”

“My love! Are you here to protect me from the monsters?”  the mystic asks the priest.

“No. I had my suspicions that your witchcraft had something to do with this because something was radically different in the town and I couldn’t put my finger on it. When I saw these white trees and the kinds of monsters it produced, I remembered a memory long forgotten when you put you and me through a similar situation so many years ago.”

“It was because I loved you!”

“You love yourself more than anyone,” the priest says before shooting at her feet, “Now get out of here!”

The mystic scurries away with tears in her eyes.

“You knew her?” Alonzo asks.

“I’d rather not admit it, but yes I did, and I have the solution to your problem. Even though I was the victim of the situation you’re in, I remember how we overcame this.”

“How?”

“Since you’re sins and faults are manifesting outside here, you have to bring them back into yourself. The ritual involves taking responsibility for your faults so that is what you must do to reverse it.”

“So what do I do? Confess my sins to you?”

“Yes, I will be able to absolve them from you. That should be able to revert things back to the way they were.”

“Okay. I’ll do it,” Alonzo says before looking at Cora who nods at him.

“Remember to do what I said.”

Alonzo confesses his sins to the priest including his sin of going through the ritual. This makes the white trees and monsters of the town deteriorate along with the town that collapses into itself. Waking up a short time later, Alonzo sees that it’s morning and Cora is already out of bed. He looks through his phone to see that his pornographic images are back on his phone, so he deletes them along with the lewd images of his neighbors. Going downstairs, he finds Cora in the same mood that she’s always in as she complains to a friend about a certain customer that keeps giving her trouble. As he prepares himself to do what he needs to, Alonzo paces back and forth unsure if he really wants to do it.

Seeing this makes Cora snap and say, “Can you sit down for a second?! What are you worked up about?! No, don’t tell me. I have enough that’s bothering me.”

“Cora.”

“What?”

“I’m…we’re going to get a divorce.”

“…what?”

“I don’t want to cause you any more pain than I have already, so I think it’s better that we separate from one another. I’m sorry for cheating on you so many times and making so many promises only to break them.”

Cora stands in silence with an angry glare on her face that she usually has. Since she isn’t responding, Alonzo is about to walk out the door before Cora stops him.

“Did you lie to me?” she asks.

“About what?”

“When you said that you loved me and that you would always be with me?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why are you trying to leave me?!” she says with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

“You’re doing plenty of that by doing this!”

“I don’t know what to do anymore to fix this.”

“Just…stay with me. We can fix this together. You’re always talking about different things we can do and I’m always rejecting them because I didn’t want to deal with it. I’ll do try whatever you want. Please, just, stay.”

“…okay.”

Alonzo and Cora embrace each other as they renew their love for one another and promise to make up for all the hurt they caused one another and other people. Meanwhile, the mystic from before is checking on their Love Psalm to see if it is the same now. To her surprise, it’s different.

 

I try and hide my mistakes

Look the other way

But I only made things worse

I endlessly spiral downwards

Please end this now

 

Then I saw you

And I was made brand new

This love we have

Please let it be true

 

You came in and took me up

Held me close and didn't let go

Lit a fire in my heart and kept it burning

Unchained me from my mistakes and freed me

Let this Love Be True

Let this Love Be Forever

 

I was never satisfied

Always wanted more

Gave in to my demons while swearing them off

Someone please free me from myself

 

Then I saw you

And I was made brand new

This love we have

Please let it be true

 

You came in and took me up

Held me close and didn't let go

Lit a fire in my heart and kept it burning

Unchained me from my mistakes and freed me

Let this Love Be True

Let this Love Be Forever

 

You gave me more than I could ever ask for

You are everything that I need

But I still fall and fall again

 

Don't leave

Stay with me

And never let me go

 

You came in and took me up

Held me close and didn't let go

Lit a fire in my heart and kept it burning

Unchained me from my mistakes and freed me

Let this Love Be True

Let this Love Be Forever

 

The End