The Songbirds Haven

CASTLE ON THE HILL

Castle on the Hill-Ed Sheeran

Used for-Non dialogue

The old and water damaged book sat on the man's leg as he smiled. The corners of his eyes wrinkled more than before with nostalgia.

The white sheets crumpled beneath him as he turned his head to cough, cannulas twisting slightly, before turning back to the book.

The photo was old and grey, but it brought with it so many memories. Not only was this a photo album, but it was also a diary.

When he was six he broke his leg whilst running from his older brother and his friends. He remembers the hospital where he was treated. This one was much nicer.

As he breathes roughly through his nose he can almost remember the scent of the mountain grass he rolled down, the sweet and dewy aroma. A perfume he hadn't inhaled for many moons.

He almost wishes he could go back.

Those were the days he found love and lost it. Small schoolboy crushes with tiny notes passed around and friends he hadn't glimpsed for what felt like an eternity. The roaring fields probably long gone.

The wrinkled man turns the page to a picture of himself with a car.

He was nineteen when he got that car. He remembers driving down the country lanes on his way to work, singing along to the ballerina songs that he had learnt off by heart.

He can still picture watching the sunset over the castle on the hill.

Again he flips the page.

Now a photo from when he was fifteen, a cigar in his mouth and a bottle of cheap whiskey tucked under his arm.

He was younger then.

He thinks of the weekend jobs that he worked to get that whiskey.

Johnny left to sell clothes.

David worked by the coast.

Andrew had two kids but lived alone.

Stevens brother overdosed.

Ronald had two divorces by twenty-eight.

George was only barely getting by.

But those people raised him. And he can't wait to go home.

He's about to see them again.

The excitement is palpable.

Then the heart rate monitor drew a straight line.