TW: Attempted suicide.
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The rest of the world had disappeared. Cars were abandoned on the highways, food was left uneaten and messily dropped on plates, and the silhouette of people made out of clothes was all that remained. Their belongings were frozen in time to be left undisturbed.
Kairi and Mattia were in the park surrounded by people when they blinked, and in an instant there was no one around. All they could see were the empty shells of clothing dropped on the ground from the people that used to occupy them. Perhaps it was chance that left the two of them alone so that they could learn to feel each other's embrace. But this didn't stop the sick feeling in the bottom of Kairi's stomach from growing into a monster that kicked and screamed and cried for his mother and sister to return to him.
It hurt. It hurt to have the knowledge that he would never see their faces again and all that he could ever have would be picture frames and garments of clothing with thin remnants of their scent on it.
Mattia didn't cry. He watched Kairi break down in front of him but he didn't cry. He definitely felt like he should have but the tears didn't arrive when he looked at the now empty playground ahead of him. The tears didn't arrive when they walked through silent and empty streets that - only a few moments ago - bustled with life. The tears arrived when he entered his home. The still air gave him a feeling that something wasn't right. The energy of the family's bodies remained. As he walked into the kitchen he felt the presences of his parents and his little brother. And as he stepped forward to look at the table he fell to his knees.
There on the floor laid the red shirt he saw his mother walk out of her room with. Across the table was the polo shirt his father had on and his hat collapsed on the old wooden chair. Next to his father's clothes were his little brother's. He was so much smaller but Mattia knew he would've grown to be just as big as he was.
And now they were all gone.
Mattia reached for his mother's clothes as the tears uncontrollably fell from his eyes. His hands grasped the fabric, grabbing and letting go of it as if to find a piece of her stuck to the blouse.
"Mamma," he whispered over and over again. "Mamma." He turned his head to his father's clothes and he crawled to grab it too. "Papa!" He cried. He stuck out his hand and reached for Gianluca's shirt. "Luca," he repeated to himself. He held the empty fabric for as long as he could, crying out to the air, "Ti amo! Ti amo! Bellezza, bello, ti amo! Ti amo!" So he cried and cried until he could cry no more. He took the clothes to his parents' room and laid them out nicely, keeping the clothes in the shape of people - people he would never see again.
The two sat down in the living room on the couch with dried tears on their faces.
"So..." Kairi trailed off. "What do you want to do?"
