Author: Dex (Discord : Kobold_Dm)
As Oliver slipped on his worn-out slippers, the morning light filtering through the curtains cast a soft glow over his modest apartment. It was a small sanctuary amidst the chaos of the city, a place where he could retreat from the demands of the outside world, if only for a moment.
With each step he took, the familiar creak of the floorboards echoed through the stillness, a reminder of the routines that governed his days. He moved with a sense of purpose, though his movements were unhurried
Outside, the city stirred to life, its rhythms merging with the steady beat of Oliver's footsteps. The distant hum of traffic and the chatter of passersby filtered through the open window, a symphony of urban sounds that formed the backdrop to his everyday existence.
As he made his way to the kitchen, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, mingling with the scent of toast and eggs. It was a simple breakfast. Sitting at the small table in the corner, Oliver took a sip of his coffee, the warmth spreading through him like a comforting embrace. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to relax, to let go of the weight of expectations that burdened him day in and day out.
But as the minutes ticked by and the world outside beckoned, Oliver knew that he couldn't linger in this moment forever. With a sigh, he set down his cup and rose from the table, steeling himself for the challenges that lay ahead.
For Oliver, each day was a battle, a constant struggle to reconcile the person he was with the person others wanted him to be. But as he stepped out into the bustling city streets he knew it was pointless to resist
From a young age, Oliver had been told that he needed to be more, to do more, to achieve more. His parents, with their well-meaning but demanding expectations, had always urged him to excel in every aspect of his life. They envisioned a future for him filled with accolades and accomplishments, a path paved with success and prestige.
His teachers, too, had their own set of expectations for Oliver. They saw his potential and his intelligence, and they pushed him to reach for the stars, to strive for greatness in everything he did. They believed in him, perhaps even more than he believed in himself, and their unwavering faith in his abilities only added to the weight of their expectations.
Even his friends, though they may not have realized it, had their vision of who Oliver should be. They looked to him for guidance, for inspiration, and they expected him to always be there for them, to lift them when they were feeling down, to be the rock upon which they could lean.
As Oliver attempted to break free from the suffocating grip of others' expectations, he found himself descending into a downward spiral of mental decline. The relentless pressure he had been under for so long had taken its toll, leaving him feeling exhausted and defeated.
At first, he tried to convince himself that he was making progress, that by stepping away from the expectations of others, he was finally taking control of his destiny. But as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, he began to realize that the road to self-discovery was far more treacherous than he had anticipated.
Doubt crept in like a shadow, whispering cruel taunts in the darkest corners of his mind. "You're not good enough," it hissed, its voice growing louder with each passing day. "You'll never amount to anything. You're just a failure."
Try as he might to silence the voice of doubt, Oliver found himself unable to escape its relentless onslaught. It followed him everywhere he went, gnawing away at his confidence and self-esteem until there was nothing left but a hollow shell of the person he used to be.
His once bright outlook on life began to dim, replaced by a sense of hopelessness. He withdrew from the world around him, retreating into himself as he struggled to make sense of the chaos raging within.
Simple tasks became Herculean feats, each one more daunting than the last. He could no longer find joy in the things that had once brought him happiness, his passions and interests fading into the background as he struggled to keep his head above water.
As Oliver attempted to shoulder the burdens of everyone around him, his relationships began to suffer. He felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility to fix the problems of those he cared about, believing that if he could just help them overcome their struggles, he would finally be worthy of acceptance and love.
But despite his best efforts, he found himself unable to alleviate the pain and suffering of those around him. Each new problem he took on only added to the weight of his mental anguish, dragging him further into the depths of despair.
As he poured all of his energy into helping others, he neglected his well-being, pushing aside his own needs and desires in favor of those he deemed more important. He pushed away those who cared about him, unable to bear the thought of burdening them with his troubles, yet he couldn't escape the nagging feeling that he was failing them, failing himself.
The more he isolated himself from the world, the darker his thoughts became, until he found himself consumed by a suffocating sense of loneliness and despair. The weight of his expectations, coupled with the burdens he had taken on from others, threatened to crush him beneath their collective weight.
And as he spiraled further into darkness, he wondered if he would ever find a way out, if he would ever be able to break free from the cycle of striving and disappointment that had come to define his life.
In the depths of his despair, Oliver began to lose sight of who he was. The lines between reality and illusion blurred, leaving him adrift in a sea of uncertainty and confusion. Each day felt like a struggle to distinguish between what was real and what was merely a figment of his tortured imagination.
His mind became a tangled web of conflicting thoughts and emotions, each one vying for control as he teetered on the brink of oblivion. He found himself questioning everything he had ever known, doubting the very fabric of his existence.
The world around him seemed to warp and shift, twisting into grotesque caricatures of what they once were. Faces became distorted, voices turned into sinister whispers that echoed in the recesses of his mind. He felt as though he were trapped in a nightmare from which he could not awaken.
Oliver lay in bed, the voices in his head screaming at him. "You're not enough.", "Never be good enough", "Worthless", and "You only exist to please others". The voices tormented him, bringing him close to insanity. He grabbed his magnum gun out of his drawer and turned off the safety, its cold metal pressing against his scalp. Everything screamed, voices and voices, as he finally made the choice that would end it all. He pulled the trigger and then......
The final moment of pain brought an odd sense of peace as the voices finally fell silent. Oliver found himself intoxicated by the sweet relief of death. No longer tormented by the weight of his failures and insecurities. The sweet release was almost too much to handle, as he drifted into the dark abyss of the forever after. The sweet relief of death was intoxicating.
YOU ARE READING
Expectations
Short StoryOliver struggled to live up to the expectations of those around him, but the mounting pressure was too much for him to bear. The voices of doubt and failure became deafening, and his mental health worsened. He was trapped in a dark spiral, with no w...