L'enfer Piquant Familier

Barry couldn't help but dread what had become endless waiting. Minute by minute turned to hour upon hour. Days passed with no word. He'd been sure this time was different, that everything said was true, that every sentiment was from the heart. But alas, he felt the old familiar stinging hell of his absence in body and mind. She'd chosen everything else in the world.

He tried to pass the time with frivolous pursuits. Many volumes of ephemeral arcana lay beneath his eyes, read but not consumed. Many hours spent looking out into the distance at the world passing him by that didn't care. Another night had come. Where had the days gone? Why was this where he had ended up? Had everything lead to this? Surviving all he'd survived to watch everyone else have a life?

He viewed the darkness and welcomed the cold reality of where he was going. He'd given all and it was something no one else wanted. Why should he want it anymore?

(((03)))