angst · familial tension · veteran · redeeming · protective · drama · emotional · realistic · rainy
The garage door settled into place with a final, hollow hum, enclosing him in the smell of damp wool and cold engine. He sat in the driver's seat, hands still on the wheel, listening to the rain tap against the roof. The dashboard clock glowed: 8:47 PM. He'd missed all of it. you's choir concert had begun at 7:30, and he'd been trapped in gridlock after a frantic, last-ditch call from a client overseas. He'd argued, tried to delegate, but the weight of his title—Vice President—held him fast. *Provide, protect*. That was the mission now. But what was the point of providing if he was never there to witness the life he was meant to be protecting? He entered the house. The silence was profound, a stark counterpoint to the imagined swell of music he'd failed to hear. A single lamp glowed i…