"A Walk to Remember": how to write a short story

Charlie sat in his room contemplating what to do wondering how he had gotten to this point. His mind was filled with thoughts of suicide wishing to end it all. He stared blankly to the walls of his room, unable to keep still. For months he had been feeling on edge and battling with emotions, and the ability to control them seemed to be slowly seeping away. He often thought of the past, the things that had happened and regretted every moment and mistake that he had done. He was burdened with feelings of being undeserving in life, and the atmosphere did not fade away. He felt his heart become more burdensome, and he longed for an escape as days went by. Only this morning, he had gone online in search of the fastest and easiest method to end his life but felt too frustrated to go on with any of them. He saw this as the end, he was disappointed, and his thoughts and actions failed him. He could call his friend Oli and Ryan that he knew. His sister and his mum would rush to his side to help, but Charlie did not have the strength or the courage to tell them what had been going on in his life. He had kept it a secret for too long and sharing it now would only make things worse. He made a vow to face his choices as mainly as he could. There was no going back now. 

Charlie troubles had started last summer when his parents had announced that they were separating. Though Charlie has seen the strive in their relationship over the years, he always had thought that things would one day work out and his family would be the happy and united family that it had once been. But things did not get better, towards the end of summer his mum had been diagnosed with cancer which the doctor made clear had progressed and her chances of recovery were slim. The news affected Charlie deeply that he spent weeks searching for ways to keep his family together so that they could take care of their ailing mum as a family. But his father had already made plans to move out of the house by choosing an apartment. He only had his sister and his friends who were also engulfed with personal issues and struggles of adolescents. 

In the previous year, Charlie had won a scholarship as an outstanding student in his school. He was currently pursuing a course in engineering and has managed to keep at the top of his class. When school resumed, Charlie tried his level best to keep his tribulations aside and concentrate on school work to no avail. He felts a heavy burden. He could no longer focus on anything for wrong as his mind kept wandering as he imagined possibilities and thought crowded his minds searching for things to do to avert the doomed end of his family. As a result, his grades flopped, and his teachers were alarmed. He was summoned and questioned his determination to finish his engineering course. Charlie felt helpless. He knew that there was little he could do to change the situation. He had no control over his parents' decisions and the more he thought of how life would be affected the more he got into a downward spiral of depression. He was often overcome by feelings of helplessness and powerlessness which make the situation worse. 

Charlie’s family was concerned about him, and his mother frequently enquired what was going on to which he always replied that he was fine. One fateful morning Charlie woke up with his head throbbing having slept only for a few hours of the night. It took him several minutes to recall where he was and when he did, he switched on the light and sat on the bed holding his head in his arms. Charlie wondered why his head felt so heavy making his eyes water and his leg shake. He also noticed that he was experiencing a sharp pain in his hand having slapped his bedside table in his sleep. Charlie could not take it anyway. He struggled to walk until he reached the bathroom door and went inside. He could still not see clearly as he searched among the drawers for pills to cool away from the pain. Luckily he found some which he swallowed easily without bothering to fetch a glass of water and walked back to bed to cool off. Charlie slept soundly and woke up well and refreshed. Only his gloomy mood and his hurting hand disturbed him which he could bear. He also hoped the pain would disappear as the day went by. In school, Charlie tried his best to concentrate and listened to his teacher attentively though from time to time his mind wandered off to private thoughts. He met his friends after school, but he found it hard to talk and explain to them his experiences. Charlie acted like everything was okay which was easier to do as he did not want his friends to pity him. He assured himself that he would get everything under control and continued to shoulder on in his misery. 

The following morning he woke up with the throbbing head again. Only this time the pain was more severe than the previous day which caused him to scream out loud in pain. His sister came rushing to his room and found him on the floor holding his head. On seeing him like that she rushed to get their mother who sped to his room. Charlie requested his sister to hand him some pills for the pain which she did. After pain taking time to subside finally disappeared as his mother and sister stayed with him observing and pampered him. He assured them that he would be okay and promised his mother that he would pass by the clinic to get checked and get some medication. When the pain reoccurred consecutively for a whole week, Charlie knew that he had to act and do something before his family got more worried about him and he did not want to add to the already present trouble. He requested his friends who worked at a clinic to get him strong pain medication for his frequent headaches. His friend obliged without much inquiry which making Charlie happy to find a solution for the time being. Charlie took the pills every day even when he felt no pain and on realized that he could not do without the pills. When he ran out, he went to his friend and this time used his mother as an excuse to get a stronger and a huge dose. His friend unsuspicious handed him the dosage and wished his mother a quick recovery. 

With each passing day, Charlie wallowed deeper into depression. He struggled with his addiction for the opium for months and on days that he failed to take the pills. His body would ache, and Charlie would feel severe pain engulf his whole body. As his dependency on pain medication increased, he continued to use wicked ways to get pills. Charlie borrowed from friends, lied to the team captain that was in severe pain and wrote a prescription for him at school. On desperate times, he stole from his grandmother’s house and on several occasions forged prescriptions to supplement and sustain his habits. As things got worse, Charlie started using other drugs such as alcohol which he consumed in the privacy of his room. He slept it off until the following morning, as time went by he avoided his friends and family always giving excuses for his absence. As expected his grades went lower, and his teachers dismayed by his behavior sent him to the school counselor suspecting that his parents’ divorce had taken a toll on him. 

Charlie was reluctant to go fearing judgment and condemnation. When he finally decided to visit the counselor he had made up his mind to life and get it done. His narrated a fabricated story to the counselor on a different incident which like Charlie claimed as the cause of his stress and affecting his education. Charlie decided to use a long time incident where he had lost his girlfriend in an accident. Charlie narrated to the doctor how in his dream he had continuously been haunted by the event where his girlfriend in college had encouraged a hit and run as he came to meet him for a drink after school. It happened that Charlie and Silvia had only dated for two months when the incident took place which left Charlie wounded and exceedingly hurt by the loss. Silvia and Charlie had left school in the afternoon and had arranged a meeting later in the evening at a nearby resort. Charlie had rushed home to get ready and perform a few chores in the house and to get prepared to meet his girlfriend in the evening. Time has passed fast without his knowledge as having taken longer than usual to finish his chores. Since he resented the idea of calling off the date, he decided to change the location of the meeting point to a nearby restaurant to give himself time to prepare as Silvia came over. He successful outlined his plan to her to which she agreed and started the journey. The accident occurred as she crossed a street towards the restaurant and Charlie arrived to see the ambulance as it move away with her lifeless body. Charlie was frustrated and blamed himself for Silvia’s death claiming that if he has stuck to the initial plan, the accident would not have occurred since the first club was closer to Silvia’s home and he would not have closed any street to see him. Despite various consultations with the therapist, Charlie was yet to heal from the incident which had taken place two years ago. 

The therapist, new to the case was sympathetic with Charlie and offered to walk with him. Unknown to her that Charlie as undergoing other traumas and was depressed he asked him whether there was anything she could to for him. Charlie took the opportunity to explain his headaches associated them with the intense stress for the upcoming examination. The therapist, therefore, offered him a prescription for the pain and promised to walk with him to resolve the issue and help him heal. Charlie a happy that his plan had gone well and he felt that the disclosure of the real problems at hand would be too risky for him. He counted the consequences for addiction and drug abuse a substantial ground for the cancellation of his scholarship. Charlie feared the discouragement and the shock that his mother would undergo being already ill with a chronic condition. He wanted to confide in his sister, but he felt that she would condemn him and may up disclosing the details to his parents before he was ready to come clean. Charlie felt confused and lost. His friends had always considered him as the leader of the team, and he dreaded that they would despise him or make fun of him he also assumed that they would not understand as they came from stable families and were doing well in their studies with high prospects of graduating and garnering top positions in their dream jobs. From his perspective, he viewed their lives as perfect compared to his mess and the tormenting thoughts that tortured him day and night. 

As days progressed, things became harder for Charlie as he could not keep up with the demands of his addiction. To sustain his behavior, he required more money, and he had already depleted his savings since childhood. Charlie turned to his further for help. Early one morning Charlie made his way to his father’s apartment having made up his mind to extort money from him to satisfy his needs. As he came to the door, he heard muffled voices and waited outside the door. To his surprise, the door opened, and his mother best friend emerged from the house scantily dressed. At first, Charlie did not comprehend the situation, but he came to his senses early enough to see the look of shock on her face and that of his father. Charlie felt his anger rise and his face was contorted with fury. The rushed past his father into the house and sat down. Suddenly everything was clear, and he knew whey their parents were separated and on the verge of a divorce. It all came to him the fights, the harsh words and the financial struggles in the home as his father failed to raise enough to cater for the bills. Suddenly it was too much for him, and he charged forward ready to grab the woman for a fight. Luckily his father was too fast for him and managed to reach him and wrestle him to the ground before he could hurt the woman. His father angry pushed him out of the house and sent him away. Charlie felt the betrayal and frustration for his father’s action catch up with him, and he wept bitterly as he walked down the street towards home. His thoughts conspired vengeance, and he contemplated how he would murder them both for the pain that they have caused the family and the suffering. On reaching home Charlie as confronted with another unexpected situation his mother was seriously ill in bed groaning in pain. She tried to lift her hands reaching but to him but helplessly collapsed on the couch. Charlie knew that he had to do something fast and he immediately called an ambulance to take his mother to the hospital. 

In the waiting room, Charlie though drifted on the current situation and his messed up life which filled his mind with suicidal thoughts. He developed a strong desire to end it all and attain peace. Charlie felt oppressed and estranged from ordinary life. He evaluated every incident that had occurred in his and the impact and consequences. Charlie felt helpless, hopeless and useless. Charlie had never been a believer, but on this particular night, he longed for a divine intervention to change his life and start anew. Charlie for the first time in his life made a prayer and sought to connect with supreme power. But things did not get better, the doctor examining his mother informed him that his mother required immediate treatment, failure to which they would risk her to early death. Charlie felt his heart stop. He did know what to say or where to start. He felt overwhelmed with events and life not knowing where he would find solutions. 

When Charlie arrived home that night, he could not sleep. He found it impossible to consume anything and retreated further into his cocoon of misfortunes. Charlie cried until his clothes were wet with tears and his eyes round and red. He felt alienated that no one wanted him. He thought of asking for help but thought of burdening his family or ruining his reputation after everything that he had gone through limited him. His friends considered him too sensitive and approached him with caution on fear. His relationships, therefore, deteriorated as he was easily angered and snapped at everyone who showed concern or asked questions. Charlie felt as if he was on edge. He wanted to end it all, he wanted to be free, but the freedom he yearned for would only cost him his life. It cost him all his energy to get through the day. 

His relationships worsened day by day. He friends avoided him afraid to provoke him and cause him to unleash fury and wrath on him. He envied them for having carefree lives and blamed himself for everything that was happening in his life. He felt that he had failed his parents, his sister, his girlfriend, his teachers and himself. He considered himself a failure with no hope for survival and burnt out with no energy to move forward. After spending time alone, Charlie birthday was fast approaching hand he had no plans on how to celebrate having lost his friends Oli and Ryan. He assumed that he would spend it like any other day as he nursed his feelings and waited for death. His had decided to act on his suicidal thoughts after his birthday and was working on a suicidal note to comfort his family after he had gone. He wanted them to know that he loved them very much, but his problems with addiction, with family, education and his lack of faith in God or religion had made his stay here in the world painful and unworthy. 

Charlie was afraid when he received an invitation to a hike from Oli and Ryan. Charlie later learned that his friends had gone out of their way to make his birthday colorful and distinctive. Ryan had spoken to his uncle who owned a mountain cabin and requested him to allow them to use it as a getaway for the weekend and celebrate Charlie birthday. Having noticed his short attitude and character and change in behavior, they have felt concerned and sought to find out what was wrong with him during the trip. So after informing his mother of the surprise invitation and the upcoming tour. His mother was happy that at last his son would enjoy a get away from the stressful life of the city and have fun with his friends with fresh air to refresh his mind. 

Charlie too was excited though initially, he had no idea whether he should take the trip. He thought that his friends were intrusive and he hesitated at first. A trip to the cabin in the mountain and a hike was not the kind of trip he had in mind. However, Charlie reconsidered and realized that he needed a getaway with friends to rethink his life and reach a conclusion on what to do. He needed to change his pace, and the trip would provide him with a perfect opportunity to decide on how to proceed on with his life. On the day of the journey, Charlie and Ryan were excited and started their journey early in the morning. They traveled the whole day and arrived at the cabin in the late afternoon tired but happy to have chosen to go. 

The air was cold and chilly that they could see their breath. Ryan’s uncle welcomed them warmly and set up a fire for them to warm up. He showed them to their rooms and around the cabin and left them to enjoy their visit .they gathered and spoke to each other about their experiences in the last month but Charlie was reluctant to share with his friends the event that has transpired over the months, the friends happy to spend time together, laughing and having a good time. They assemble to make dinner together being in the mood for pasta, mushrooms and a salad. They ate heartily to their fill and each person decide to spend their evenings in various places as each pleases. Charlie being used to solitude chose to take a walk as his friends considered him a visitor and the birthday boy refuse his help to clean the dishes. 

Charlie put on his heavy hooded jacket to keep out the cold, as the stepped out of front door, the door closed behind taking him to a different world. He breathed in rich scents which he assumed were of burning wind which combined with the breeze to form a sweet aroma. His thoughts were lifted, his feelings absorbed as he walked further beyond the clearings surrounding the house into the tree and up the mountain. Charlie made his way through the woods. Charlie felt his mind becoming bright and clear, as he realized what he was to do with his life. As he continued walking, a strong breeze rose to force the trees to make small eerie sounds which to Charlie came as low whispering voices pushing him to go further into the woods and up the cliff. Suddenly Charlie heard a rustle in the woods. He was startled, and his eyes darted back and forth trying to see the source. The sound came again this time like more of a rush within the woods. 

Charlie relaxed and tuned himself to enjoy the sound of the breeze which sounds like the sound of eternity to him. He searched for a spot on the cliff and sat on the edge of the cliff and lifted his eyes to the stars and took in their scatter along the sky with their bright shining lights. As the veil of darkness spreads further into the wood, the stars continue to shine and the view for Charlie was a sight to behold. It was difficult for Charlie to pull himself away from the light, the stars beckon him. In his mind, he realized that he had forgotten about the stars and the sight of their quietness and peace pushes his thoughts to his yearning for peace and a wish to rest beyond the stars. He moved closer to the edge of the cliff, a tug of war in his heart as he debated on the life he desired to live. He stood on the side, closed his eyes as he got ready to jump off. Then he heard the voice of his friends calling out his name with tremor and the end of their voices, and he discovered how much he had to lose if he chose to jump. 

Charlie was suddenly brought back to life by voices in the distance. He heard his friend Olin and Ryan as they drew closer to the cliff. 

“ Charlie?” Oli called “Where are you?” 

“ Come on Charlie we are here. Can you hear us? We want to play a game.” Ryan shouted. 

He heard the agitation on their voices and remembered all they had done for him organizing this trip just for him to celebrate his birthday. He did not want to disappoint them. 

“ I am here.” Charlie answered as he climbed down the cliff. 

They were happy see him. You got us there man, we were worried when you stayed out for too long” Ryan said. 

“ I’m sorry guys, got carried away “Charlie replied. 

“ It’s all right man. I think we should head back now. It’s very chilly out here.” Oli said. 

They headed back to cabin discussing on how they would spend the rest of the weekend. 

Early the following morning Charlie, Oli and Ryan work up early as planned for the hike. After breakfast and taking everything they needed for the day they all headed out and started towards the mountain. The morning was bright and beautiful thought still cold. Charlie put on his gloves to put off the cold as they trekked along the road. His mind was drifted to the occurrences of the previous night. His friends noted his solemn demeanor and shrugged to one another they did not want to push him to share. They were waiting for the right time. They walked in silence, sometimes posing to take in the beauty and take picture. Charlie seemed distracted and thoughtful. His mind wandered off as he imagined the world without him. He thought of his family, his friends and entry important aspect of his life. 

As they neared the cliff, suddenly Charlie broke into a run and speed off. His friends alarmed rushed following him closely. Unfortunately Oli tripped and feel and Ryan who was close behind him bump into him as they both collapsed to the ground. Charlie was standing on the edge of the cliff when they arrived. Tears were rushing down his face as he prepared to jump. His friends frightened by the change of events pleaded with him. Please don’t do it man, Charlie don’t do it, we are here for you, you family loves you. Please don’t do it man?” They cried. After 15 minutes of begging consoling, and pleading his friends were almost giving up as Charlie stepped closer to the end and shouted I can’t do it anymore. I have had enough!” His friends rushed forward and caught him as he collapsed on his back. They dragged him off the craft and sat down on the grass. When Charlie saw the concern on their faces he made up his mind to let it all out. And he told them everything, the drugs, his parent divorce, his failure in school, the haunted dreams of Silvia and the unending, controlling feeling of wanting to end it all. They were attentive and absorbed as he narrated. And they talked until dusk, comforting him, encouraging him and urging him to count his blessings as he sought professional help. On their walk back to the cabin, Charlie, Oli and Ryan recalled the walk in the morning. “That’s truly a walk to remember.” Charlie said. They entered the cabin and Charlie was welcomed with shouts of surprise. His birthday party took off, he felt silly for forgetting during the day’s event but was grateful to be here.