He was a good man. A good father. He was a hard worker – maybe sometimes he worked too hard. He wasn’t a guy who went out with his mates after a long day on the job. He would much rather be at home. With them. His family.

He didn’t always get there in time for dinner, but he always tucked his boy in for the night. Sometimes, long after he had already gone to sleep. But he read him a story, anyway, touched his cheek and kissed him goodnight.

Many times, dinner was a bowl of cereal or a ham sandwich because she had angrily thrown away the leftovers when the hour grew late and he was still not done with his day. Often, he slept on the sofa with just his jacket as a cover because she had locked him out of the bedroom. Again. Always, he felt the loneliness of being an outsider in his own home. Always, he prayed he could be more.

He didn’t blow his paycheck on booze and bets on the game. He spent it on a roof and a full pantry and when there was enough left over, for a toy soldier or a model airplane or a scrapbook. He filled it with memories, hoping that the pages would never be enough to be filled with their life.

Then one day he came home to a nearly-empty house. Gone. She is gone. His boy is gone. His life is gone.

A few lonely pieces of furniture, some discarded clothes, a few toys she deemed unworthy and the sad, half-empty scrapbook are all that are left. No note, no warning. She just left with all that was dear to him. No forwarding address, no warning.

He used to be content. Not as happy as he would wish, but full of expectations for better times. He used to be filled with joy at the thought of holding his son, caring for his child’s mother. He used to be the one she turned to when times were tough.

Then, he was the centre of their life. He was all that he could be to them. To her.

Now, he’s just somebody that she used to know.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

On Chance:
Jacket/shirt: Legal Insanity – gas mask jacket by Datrip Blackbart (group gift)
Jeans: Cold Ash – Slim Fit – OCELOT Jeans by ColdAsh
Boots: V-Spot – Renegade Kombat Boots by Vertig0 Sands (group gift)
Sunglasses: 7mad;Ravens End o’ Summer Sunglasses by Poe Rozenberg (MOH6 Website gift)
Hair: MINA Hair – Mark (no materials) by Mina Nakamura (MOH6 gift)
Skin: 7 Deadly s{K}ins – DAMIEN Caramel by Moonspell Ghost
Hands: Slink Male Hands (AvEnhance) – Relax by Siddean Munro

*Chair: [hate this] [ht:home] covered armchair by Corvus Szpiegel (available for The Challenge Blog September 2015)
*Table: [hate this] [ht:home] covered table by Corvus Szpiegel (available for The Challenge Blog September 2015)
Books: 8f8 – 13. Our Secret Hideout – Crate of Wisdom by iBi (gacha prize)
Scrapbook: 8f8 – 17. Our Secret Hideout – Our Memories by iBi (gacha prize)
Small table: :HAIKEI: if I live in a hut _ gacha {4} by qo0op
Toy plane: -ATTIC- Wooden Plane Toy by Citta Wiskee
Toys: Alica Stella Designs Christmas Toys Boxed by Alicia Stella
*Gym bag: 22769 ~[bauwerk] Travelbag by Paco Pooley (available for The Challenge Blog September 2015)
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Wooden%20Bay/36/123/23
Clothes: :HAIKEI: look through the window gacha {4} by qo0op
*Lamp: [hate this] [ht:home] covered lamp by Corvus Szpiegel (available for The Challenge Blog September 2015)
Cranes: [DDD] Paper Cranes Trio by Anke Hatchuk
Build: [ba] paris penthouse 2.0 by Barnesworth Anubis (available at Collabor88 August 2015)

Pose included in chair