A Schizophrenic's Antithesis -- 10

When I was in first grade, the nuns taught me about guardian angels. Like a good little Catholic girl, I began sitting in my desk so that my guardian angel could sit right next to me. I very much liked the idea of having my own special angel to follow me around and make sure I didn't get in trouble.

Children often make up invisible friends. Imagination paints their faces, and mental resourcefulness dictates their behavior. These imaginery friends are usually harmless.

Jay's imaginary friend, the man in the trench coat, is a guardian angel's anithesis. He is menacing, demanding, oppressive, and always dangerous. He appears to Jay during times of stress, when he's not taking his medication.

Jay realizes that the man in the trench coat has no substance. Schizophrenics often experience intense interactions with what normal people would call figaments of imagination. To the schizophrenic, these people are real. The most frequent problem that schizophrenics have with these imaginary people, is that they insistently demand something. It is often a behavior, and it's usually something wild.

The man in the trench coat is as real to Jay as I am. When the man shows up, standing behind the couch, or right in his face, he has dominion over Jay's behavior. Jay must do as the man instructs. He is a menacing non-faced figure who appears and disappears at will--the will of the victim, Jay.