Chapter 5: Past Shadows
503 Words
The days that followed their coffee outing were filled with a strange new energy for Michael. It wasn’t just that he saw Vicky more often—it was that she seemed to bring color into spaces that had long felt gray.
Yet, even as her laughter lingered in his memory, shadows remained.
On a chilly evening, Michael sat in his small apartment, notebook open but untouched. The single lamp on his desk cast long, uneven shadows across the walls. His headphones hung around his neck, silent. He had been staring at the same page for nearly an hour.
The words wouldn’t come.
They never came when his mind drifted backward—back to memories he preferred to bury.
His phone buzzed, lighting up with a message. It was Vicky.
“Sketching at the park tomorrow. Come join if you’re free?”
He stared at the screen, torn between the urge to say yes and the weight pressing on his chest. Vicky made everything lighter—but he couldn’t shake the fear that sooner or later, she’d see through the surface to the mess underneath.
A knock on the door broke his thoughts. With a sigh, he opened it to find David, his older brother.
David stepped inside without waiting, tall and broad-shouldered, his presence filling the small space. His expression was tight, serious.
“You missed Mom’s call again,” David said flatly.
Michael rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve been busy.”
“Busy doing what? Sitting here with your notebooks?” David’s eyes scanned the cluttered desk, the unfinished pages. “You can’t keep ignoring her, Michael. She worries.”
“I’m fine.” The words came sharper than intended.
David studied him for a long moment, then shook his head. “You’re not fine. You never are when you start pulling away like this.”
Michael turned away, jaw clenched. He hated how easily his brother could read him—how quickly he could strip down the walls Michael worked so hard to build.
“You think writing is going to fix everything?” David pressed. “It won’t. You need people, Mike. Real connections. Otherwise you’ll drown in your own head.”
Michael flinched, because wasn’t that what he’d been afraid of?
David’s tone softened. “Look, I’m not saying you can’t figure yourself out. But maybe… maybe don’t push away the people who try to reach you.”
Michael didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His thoughts spun too fast.
After David left, silence filled the room again—heavy, suffocating. Michael sat at the desk, staring at his phone. Vicky’s message still waited, a small glow of light in the darkness.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, he typed back: “I’ll be there.”
Because despite the shadows, despite the past that clung to him, there was something about Vicky that made him want to try.
Maybe she wouldn’t fix him. Maybe no one could.
But for the first time in a long while, Michael wanted to be seen.
- Writer
