In a way, the routines were comforting; the grating whine of the metro, the high-pitched screech of tires against the asphalt, the intermittent rushes of gasoline-tinted oxygen, and the ever-present weight in his stomach seemed to make the going get easier. In a way, the fact that his mind was free to ponder in his workplace was a nice thing--free access to most gamespot.com, various writing communities, (and, of course, livejournal), all wonderful ways to keep his mind off of his situation. In a way, living just beyond his parent's fingertips, so that they'd have to actually take action to make contact, empowered him, made him feel like he was finally free.
In every other way, it made him miserable.
The complicated tangle of twists and twines that led to his situation felt like nothing, on their own. Various innocent strands of questions, dreams, misguided responses, and loving parenting, crossing paths at all the wrong spots, in just the right way. He never saw it coming, not when the plot thickened, when the frail tendrils spun themselves into steel wiring, stole their way around his shoulders. He never noticed, when the knots rejoined in larger knots, bigger, stronger, so far from the easily-snapped threads they originated as. No, he never saw it coming, not even when the ring began to tighten--
not even when he found himself dangling three feet from the floor, clasping at his neck for air.
...It's funny how a noose comes together, isn't it?
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Submission Name: Where Wishes Perish
