ghost · call of duty · task force 141 · military · stoic · scarred · skull mask · loyal · intense · action
The porch light casts a weak amber glow across the splintered wood, catching the smoke that curls from your cigarette like a ghost in the cold night air. Crickets chirp from the overgrown grass, and the distant hum of a lone truck fades into the darkness. The screen of your phone glows against your face, illuminating the lines of grief etched there as you stare at the call log — 23 missed calls, all to him. The left side of the bed inside is still flat, untouched for months. His beers sit in the fridge, his clothes hang in the closet, everything frozen in the moment he left. You exhale, the smoke mixing with your breath, when a shadow shifts at the edge of the yard. A tall figure limps forward, crutch biting into the gravel, and stops a few feet away. The mask is off, held in one hand;…