"People change. They grow. They mature. Their priorities become clearer, and their relationships change too. Things begin to unravel. No matter how many years pass, nothing will ever truly be the same again. Everyone grows. People change. Relationships change. Life changes. Everything does."She turned her gaze downwards and picked up her spoon, swirling the pasta around. She paused for a moment. "But you shouldn't give up on yourself, Max. Don't give up on those that care about you. Don't give up on yourself because you want to be perfect. It's impossible to get there."She took a deep breath and continued eating. "I'm telling you all this because I don't want you to give up either. So please promise me that you won't stop fighting for yourself. Please don't give up. Because you deserve better.""I promise."She smiled, turning her head towards him, and suddenly he noticed that her eyes were glistening. She blinked several times and looked away.After a short moment, she lowered her
The walls seemed to shine with a light that made the colors seem brighter than usual, as though they reflected the rays of sunlight that came through the window.In the middle of the room was a small rocking chair, with a blanket draped over its arms. An old photo sat on the wooden chest in the corner. It was one of him and his father, although it had been taken several years ago. His father's arms were wrapped around his waist. His father's face was pressed into the crook of his neck, leaving a light kiss on his skin. There was also a flower tucked neatly between his father's teeth, a white rose petal falling from his lips. They were both smiling, and they looked as though they were having the time of their lives.There were no pictures of Max's mother anywhere. Not even a single picture of his own. He guessed that she never bothered to keep any of his photos up after his disappearance.They walked into the kitchen where the coffee machine was. It was silent, save for the sound of
Even if he had lost the ability to cry, he didn’t want to stop now. He was so afraid that his father was only a figment of his imagination that had managed to enter his mind.He watched as his father smiled sadly, as though he understood what Max was thinking.“Hi, Sophie.”Max swallowed hard. “Why are you here? You said that.”His voice cracked as he tried to force the words out. He felt tears begin to flow down his cheeks again and he wiped them away angrily before speaking.“You said that you weren’t coming back! You said that… that you would leave and never come back! I thought you were dead!” Max cried. “You were done!”His father nodded solemnly. “I am sorry. I am truly sorry, but I had no choice. It was either my death or yours. It was either your death or mine. So I chose mine.”“You promised me, Dad,” Max whispered. “Promised me that you would never go back. That you would never leave me again!”His father sighed softly. “I am truly sorry, son.”Max fell to his knees, bury
Max opened his eyes quickly, only to find that it wasn’t real. He glanced around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary except the furniture that sat on the floor. After a few moments passed by, Max turned to face his father. His father met his gaze and gave him a small smile. “Everything is fine now, Max.”Max smiled back at his father as he slowly began to realise why everything had been different since his mother’s funeral.For the first time in years, he felt completely content.As Max awoke the following morning, he could feel his body trembling. For a brief instant, he wondered whether the shaking was because he hadn’t slept well or if he was cold, but then he remembered that his clothes were nowhere near as heavy as they had once been. His body had been freed from the shackles of his past life and his mind from the torment that he had endured.He looked around and realised that he was lying upon his bed and that he was still wearing the clothes that he had worn the pre
When he finished washing up and eating a quick breakfast with his father, Max headed downstairs, determined to enjoy each and every second that he spent with his father.However, instead of being greeted at the bottom step, he was faced with the sight of a tall man, who he immediately recognised as Mr Anderson. At first glance, his hair looked perfectly black, but Max knew better. His hair was dyed black, but his father wasn’t stupid no one could possibly dye hair that dark.“Mr Anderson,” Max said, bowing his head in greeting. He hoped that his father would forgive his mistake, but he knew that it would take more than just saying sorry to make up for his mistake.“Oh, it’s you!” his father exclaimed. “Hello, Max,” he added, smiling warmly at him.“Morning,” Max responded, returning his smile.“Where are all my manners,” Mr Anderson muttered, shaking his head. “Sit, please, sit down. Please call me Shawn. Everyone does.”“Thanks.”He sat down opposite Max and smiled broadly. Max not
Everything seemed so calm and peaceful. He breathed deeply in through his nose, exhaling through his mouth. After letting out a short laugh, he opened his eyes and continued walking towards the cafeteria, deciding to give himself a moment to calm down.Soon enough, he arrived at the cafeteria and made his way inside. He spotted her chatting away with some of her friends and he couldn’t help but smile. She was such a bubbly girl, he loved to watch her talk. However, he wasn’t too interested in listening to their conversation since the day was already starting to heat up and he knew that his mother would probably soon yell at him for having forgotten about lunch and making them late. “Hey, Max,” he called out to him as he approached them, grinning widely.“Morning!” he replied. “How are you today?” he asked.He shrugged his shoulders. “Eh, I’m good. You?” he asked, as Max plopped himself down in front of the empty seat beside him.“Good, good. So what did everyone else decide to do af
“Hi there, are you lost?” she asked curiously, placing a hand on her hip and smiling softly.“Erm...not exactly…I was hoping to speak to Ms. Anderson.”“Well, why don’t you come inside and we’ll see if she has time for you.”“Thanks,” he said and followed her inside the building.As soon as they entered, he took a glance around and looked over at the woman.She had her hair in a messy bun and her face looked like she was sleeping at a particularly bad time, despite how early she was probably still awake. But she gave off an energetic energy and seemed quite happy, especially with the way she was smiling.Max stared at her as she lead him deeper into the building. It was clear that she knew what she was doing she must’ve been a regular customer because she could easily walk up to any door in the building and knock, without any problems whatsoever. After walking for several minutes through the lobby and finding the stairs leading to the basement, they ended up in front of a closed door
Suddenly, an idea popped into Max’s head. He figured that if he wanted to find somewhere nice to eat and sleep, then he might as well go back to the apartment and ask to take a nap for a while. At least if he slept at his parents’s apartment, he wouldn’t feel the loneliness.So, he decided to do that and return back home. Once he was finished getting back in his car, he started the engine and backed out of his parking spot. As he drove, he thought about Ms. Anderson. He hadn’t talked to her yesterday, nor had he gone to visit her yet, so he figured that it was time to go and pay her a visit now.As he headed out of the parking lot and towards the main road, he noticed that most of the shops and restaurants had already closed down for the night, so he was relieved that it was only going to be a few more minutes before he returned to his parents’ apartment. He pulled up the driveway, parked in his designated spot and exited his car. Before stepping up the pathway, he paused for a seco