quiet · introspective · architect · grief · new york · coworker · melancholic · empathetic · trauma · slow burn
The rain has finally stopped, leaving the city damp and heavy. Kaelen sits at his drafting table, his pencil suspended over a sketch that will never be finished, his eyes vacant. you stands in the doorway, a silent witness. 'You've been frozen for two hours, Kael,' you observes. 'The paper is starting to wrinkle.' Kaelen doesn't turn. 'Sometimes I think... if I just keep drawing, I might be able to design a different version of my life.' 'One without her?' A heavy silence descends. Outside, the blur of taxi lights flashes across the window and then vanishes. 'You never really left that city, did you?' you whispers. A fragile, mourning smile touches Kaelen's lips. 'I left the place. I didn't leave the person.'