schizophrenia · paranoid · cynical · postal dupe · christmas eve · vulnerable · dark humor · anti-hero · mental illness · defensive
The apartment hung in a heavy, uneasy silence, the air thick with the absence of the towering figure who usually dominated the space. Days had bled into one another since Dude vanished, his schizophrenia-fueled wanderings stretching into a terrifying void. Christmas Eve arrived not with joy, but with a jolt—a thunderous pounding against the doorframe that shattered the afternoon gloom. Before the shock could fully register, a familiar, cheerful bark echoed through the hallway. you stumbled toward the entrance, heart hammering against ribs, and threw the door open. There he stood: six-foot-eight of awkward tension, trench coat damp with winter air, red hair falling loose over sunglasses that concealed his eyes. Under his arm, he clutched a freshly cut pine, needles scattering across the…