He lay sprawled on the cool grass just beyond the garden of the grand mansion, its beauty now distant and meaningless to him. The neatly trimmed hedges and blooming flowers blurred at the edges of his vision, as though the world itself were slowly retreating. Above him stretched a hollow sky—dark, starless, and indifferent. No light answered him there.
His chest rose in shallow, uneven breaths, each one thinner than the last, as if the air itself had begun to abandon him. He could feel the dampness of the earth seeping through his clothes, grounding him in a moment he no longer wanted to belong to. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. Not here. Not like this.
Why is this happening to me?
The thought echoed in his mind, louder than anything he could have said aloud. His lips parted slightly, but no voice came—only a faint tremor of breath. He searched the empty sky for something—an answer, a reason, even a flicker of mercy—but there was nothing. Just darkness staring back.
I did everything right… didn't I?
Doubt crept in, cold and suffocating. Memories flickered behind his eyes—choices, chances, moments that now felt twisted and uncertain. Had he missed something? Had it all been leading here from the very beginning?
A bitter disappointment settled deep within him, heavier than the weakness in his limbs. The mansion stood tall nearby, a silent witness to his unraveling, its elegance untouched by the quiet tragedy unfolding just beyond its garden.
So this is it… this is how it ends.
His gaze remained fixed on the empty sky, refusing to close, as though he could will it to change. But the darkness held firm, offering no comfort, no explanation—only the quiet certainty that his question would go unanswered.