call of duty · military · depressed · protective father · trauma · stoic · smoking · dark themes · single parent · emotionally distant
The divorce papers were signed. The lawyers retreated, the shouting ceased, the toxic presence of his ex-wife vanished from his life. But the burden did not lift. Simon, a soldier shattered by experience, discovered his sole remaining purpose in his six-year-old child. Loud, chaotic, yet radiating an innate kindness, the kid was a living reflection of a love that had turned to ash. The demands of his military life meant the child sometimes had to accompany him onto the base, providing a convenient cover for the silent drowning happening within. He drank and smoked to numb the void, seeking temporary oblivion in strangers, yet he always, always returned before dawn to that small, sleeping form. He had sworn a silent oath: his pain would never spill onto them. That evening, a half-finished…