章 1: A Cold Night
12/12/2025
On a cold Friday night, a man in tattered clothes was lying down in a building that only has a frame with incomplete walls and roof. This house has been in construction for a long time but never finished, put on hold at one point and abandoned. So, It didn't really blocked the cold from seeping in from the outside. For what reason it was abondened, nobody really cared, especially the man inside it. He only cared about being sheltered from the harsh weather and being able to keep himself, even just for a bit, warm. Even though this place couldn't provide the warmth he would have sought from a proper house , this abandoned construction site has been his home for the past couple of months. Before that? Where ever he could put the dirty cloth that he called 'bed'.
The floor was filled with trash and filth, especially the corner the man was lying down.
His back was curved, head was bowed, and his limbs were bent and drawn up to his torso. It was his last attempt to prevent his body loosing any more heat then it already did. His clothes were mismatched and provided little protection against cold. It looked like he did throw anything he could find on his body. His body was thin and you could see the bones in his body. It was the proof of his malnutrition. His hair was messy and long, on his lips there were multiple cracks thats caused by dry cold. When was the last time, clean water touched those lips of his?
Already been more than 16 years since he lost the comfort of a home, a family. Through a series of events that span just a few months, he lost everything. The life after that? That was the beginning of the real struggle.
The current him knew how naive and stupid he was once. He had a great life. But he didn't cherish what he had in hand, and let it all slip away. He should have protected those precious moments with his very life. He had been completely oblivious to the fact that he would be missing every single part of it and cause his life to be filled with endless regret. He really took everything for granted. That was the worst part.
It's been hard, but he managed to survive all these years, unfortunately, life on the streets taken its toll on his body long ago.
He's been in his 'bed' since last night. His current state didn't look promising at all. He's done his best keeping himself alive for all this time , so , how did he end up in this situation?
Well... he is certainly out of luck this time. Not that he considered himself as lucky.
He wasn't feeling good for the past few days. Gradually it got worse, and he decided to go to the hospital. Normally he couldn't afford to pay hospital fees, since he didn't have health insurance or any money. But, by law, anyone who presents himself at an "Emergency Room" cannot be turned away until the hospital assesses him. Even if he is homeless and can't possibly offer any kind of payment, if it is something that's immediately life-threatening, the hospital have to give him a treatment. But, in his case, his sickness been labeled simply as a flu. Since it wasn't "life threatening" enough, personal only accommodated him in a room for 20 minutes and that was it. Hence, it led to the current situation. So much for relying on laws...
He was starving. When was the last time he has eaten anything. A proper meal? He couldn't even remember when or where at all. As a result of malnutrition, and a sickness on top of that, he long lost the last bit of strength he had in his body. Hunger and a cold combined it was already lethal enough for him.
He opened his eyes. But couldn't rotate his head to look around. Even if he had the strength, it would have been pointless. If anyone could have seen his eyes in the dark night, they would be seeing pair of eyes that were vacant and expressionless.
He was blind. He wasn't born blind, but become one as a result of an accident. He still had this reaction of opening his eyelids to look around. It was a habit that's been etched to his daily life.
'Huh... So this is it. I never thought I would be able to live for a long time, but when death is around the corner, it still is scary. Not that I feel anything at this point. At least it's not painful anymore. It seems that I will not even reach my forties.'
This year he was 39 years old. Dying at his age might seem as an early death, but, considering his extremely poor conditions of life, it is expected. Being homeless probably took away 30 years of his lifetime.
'I was expecting a memory flash at some point. Maybe I'm not dying yet or it was all just a myth. Whatever...'
He just wanted some good old memories to resurface, as his memories of those good times become blurry as time passed. Recalling the faces of his loved ones would be perfect as well.
Few minutes later...
His thought process becomes shallow with time. It was like the cold outside started to freeze his very being and mind aswell. But at this very moment, his mind has been cleared from all thoughts. There were no more regrets, self loathing or fear. His mind was in a blank state. His body suddenly shuddered, a feeling appeared and passed through his body, then dispersed outside of his body like a wave. The image of the room he was living in appeared in his mind, it expanded for a while, then it dissappeared like it was never there before. He murmerred;
" What a joke " His voice was filled with ridicule and anger, like he just suffered from an injustice.
After these words, a bunch of memories flashed in his mind. It seems like it wasn't just a myth after all.
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Liam Powell was born in 1986. The household he was born into could be barely qualified as a middle class, but, as the only child of this family he's been doted on.
As a kid, he did spend most of his time at home playing by himself or following his mother where ever she went. The reason was his overprotective mother, Linda. She was always troubled with having no kids in her 10 years of marriage, when she finally gave birth to one, she wanted to keep an eye on for 24/7. When he was ill, she couldn't even fall a sleep and just wait beside him all night long, with eyes that's watery and threatening to tear up any moment.
As for his father, Eric, he was mostly working. Sometimes he would only see him once in a month. He wasn't home most of the time, nevertheless, he never neglected his duty as a father. Maybe he couldn't take him to fishing, camping or to a game of his favorite team due to his limited time at home, but he provided the needs of his family as much as he could. He allocated every single available free time to his family, just to make up for his absence. Like the one time he sped through the streets just to catch his son, so he could remove the loose tooth of his. What a loving father.
Liam cried in a corner. " I will not talk to you anymore."
Eric just turned back and made a motion of him pulling an imaginary tooth with his two fingers and left with an evil laugh. He loved teasing his son.
Then came the school life. Liam was a smart boy. Maybe he wasn't the person that parents made comparison to while reprimanding their kids, but he wasn't that far of either. He wasn't much sociable, thought. He wasn't a shy or a cold person. He would make friends, talk and play with them. But it would always remain within the school premises. When he enrolled in a highschool, he already lost contact with his classmates.
In highschool, he finally met Oliver, who he could call his real friend. Oliver was the only exception to his habit of losing contact with schoolmates after graduation. Both were sharing the same desk and with time they were inseparable. They laughed together, ate together and skipped classes together. He was a loyal friend and had an energetic personality. But he could sometimes get loud, when he is in an environment he could relax.
These few years were one of the best years of his life, calm and refreshing. He was carefree and most of the time he was having fun with his partner in crime, Oliver. He also, around this time, developed some sort of addiction towards video games. He often went to internet cafe with Oliver to play his favorite first person shooter game. He also managed to convince his parent to buy a computer, now he could have more time to play with it. So his grades were not the best in this period. Unlike him, Oliver always maintained his perfect grades. Traitor...
His 4 years in highschool went by in a flash and the graduation time came. Once he graduated from highschool, he managed to enroll to a decent University and started studying Economics.
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He came to the campus he will studying for the next few years. Although the classes will not be starting until the next week, he wanted get a round trip in campus, so he could get familiar with it. Once he got a good look at it and noted down a few places in his mind , he decided to head back home. But before he could leave, he heard a sweet voice calling on to him.
"Hello. Do you know where is the Faculty of Economics?"
When he turned his gaze to the direction of the voice, there he saw a beautiful girl. She had beautiful green eyes that's been focused on his eyes. He felt like she could see through to his very soul. The wind was caressing her silky smooth brown hair. She was wearing a purple dress and a red hat. She had a great figure as well.
She waved her white and soft looking hands to gather his attention. " Hello? "
He stared for too long, 'shit.' "ugh... yeah, hello"
"I was asking if you knew which building is the Faculty of Economics, before you spaced out." She glared at him playfully.
"Sorry about that. I was just thinking about something." , 'What bullshit am I saying. I need to get a grip on myself. ' , " I was just there a moment ago. I can take you there if you want."
"Thanks! That would be great. So are you a freshman aswell?" She flashed a beautiful smile and asked. After seeing her smile, his heart almost stopped. If her smile could make his heart skip a beat, what about her laugh?
"Yes, indeed. I am Liam Powell." He extended his hand.
"Hannah Collins. Nice to meet you." She shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you aswell."
That is how he met his future wife. She was beautiful and had an attractive personality. Her eyes were exuding with a charm that made his heart skip a beat. Maybe she wasn't mature enough and had a cuteness of a girl, but she definitely had a great foundation. With enough time given, she would become an elegant and stylish woman.
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