New Beginnings (Short Story)

This was something I was inspired to write after reading bluewolf's theme for the Arena - "new beginnings". Not sure if I can post it in response to the thread, as I'm not either of the challengers, so thought I might as well post it here --


He awoke from another night of restless sleep, feeling as tired as when he first shut his eyes, with a sigh leaving his lips. It was another late night, spent staring at the wall unwilling to fall asleep because then he would have to face another morning, another miserable day and another lonely night. Unable to move; his blankets and pillow becoming an inescapable vortex, he listened to the wind and rain outside his open window. At night he found the only way to sleep was to replace the noises and thoughts running around his head with the noises outside – the distant humming of engines, the low murmuring of late-night party-goers, and the occasional wail of a siren.

A quick glance at his mobile phone revealed that it was approaching 11 AM and that, once again, nobody had attempted to get in contact with him, despite his forced hermit lifestyle. Perhaps it was just as he had always thought; nobody remembered him, nobody cared about him and nobody would notice if he was gone. He manoeuvred through his phone until he found the alarm and set it for 11:30 AM, rested his head on the pillow and let sleep take him once more ...

Beep beep beep beep beep beep

His eyes opened and he picked up his phone, dismissed the alarm and threw it on the other side of the bed. Slowly and almost-painfully, he sat up, letting his feet fall to the floor. On the opposite side of the room stood his full-length mirror and he stood in front of it, examining his grey skin, his sullen face and his sad eyes. There were no tears though, months of this feeling had left him incapable of crying anymore. Instead of a sadness, it had become an almost-constant pain. As he stood there, staring at his features, a thought entered his mind as clear as day, “today is the day”.

At once a feeling of euphoria entered flowed through his body, a great weight seemed to have lifted. Today is the day. Today is the end. No more pain. No more sadness. Nothing.

But how would he do it?

Hanging seemed like a good option, yet there was nothing high enough to hang himself from. Strangulation. That was it, that was how. He searched through his wardrobe until he found a belt, wrapped it around his neck and pulled tighter and tighter and tighter, watching as his face slowly turned red, then purple and pulled tighter still ...

Beepbeep Beepbeep Beepbeep Beepbeep

He stopped and listened. It was his phone, but not his alarm – someone had just sent him a text message. His grip loosened, causing the belt to fall to the ground, and walked over to his phone, reading the message:

“Where R U? R U OK? I’m worried about U”

His hands began to shake. Oh God, what had he almost done? What had he almost done to himself? Someone cares about him. He’s not alone.

And with that, tears began to slide down his cheeks, their saltiness stinging his dry and broken lips. Today was not the end, it was the beginning; the beginning of his new life, his new self.

Before any asks, this is also inspired by how I felt when I was going through a bad time, but I'm doing so much better now