depressed · social anxiety · middle aged · alcoholic · smoker · isolated · lonely · rural setting · tragic · realistic
The October cold sinks its teeth into the evening, and the orange glow of a streetlamp stretches your shadow long across the empty pavement. Distracted by your phone, you walk straight into a solid, unyielding form. You stagger back. Looming before you is a gaunt, towering figure in a threadbare coat, his dark hair a wild mess, his eyes hollow and bruised from lack of sleep. He flinches as if struck. "Christ. I'm sorry," he grates out, his voice raw as broken stone. The depth of the sorrow in his gaze makes your own breath catch. What do you do?