Adrian lit the cigarette, allowing the smoke to fill his lungs before he let out a sigh exhaling the smoke. He watched the smoke cloud surround him, tears welling in his eyes making it impossible to see. He sat there; quiet his brothers by his side before the tears fell from his eyes cascading down his cheeks like a river. "I just want to be happy, you know? It's like I'm being chained up by my own thoughts in this dark room and I'm screaming for help. Nobody can hear me. I'm waiting for happiness, freedom. It's like I can see it, its there just staring at me through the open door but it ignores my cry for help. I don't know what to do. To be free, and maybe I'm not supposed to be free, maybe this is all I'll ever know, I've given up on hope, hope just watches me sit here as I dying inside."
By one glance you'd think that Adrian was one of those happy go lucky people that you saw on the movies. Always laughing, joking around. The truth is, Adrian was depressed.
Elliot's partner was his whole world, but after Allan's death, his ghost haunts Elliot's dreams. Everyone tells Elliot to move on, but he isn't sure he can.
*****
It's been a year since the love of Elliot's life, Allan, passed away. Everyone thinks he should have recovered after that much time, but Allan still haunts Elliot every night. He struggles to maintain relationships with his family, and despite a coworkers interest he can't summon up the courage to date. Elliot is living for the past, because to live for the present means he'll have to live with a hole in his heart. But the question Elliot has to face chases him through his monotonous days: is mourning Allan with everything he has truly living?
[[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]