Simon's Struggles - Prologue. Prologue

The water flowed over him, shoving the man forcefully back. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think the ocean was trying to save him.

No, more like it was rejecting him. He came here to die and he couldn’t even do that properly. His whole life he had been a failure. A disgrace to his family, a high school dropout, divorced, jobless, and the failures just kept adding up. It would be better for the world if he was gone.

Never again would he stare at himself in the mirror, cursing his red hair that would never colour properly, or his body that never showed his months of work at the gym. There would be no more long nights awake, dreading the next day of existence. All he had to do was let go.

A wave washed over him, dragging him under. Salty water filled his mouth, the man trying to cough. He couldn’t breathe, the liquid forcing its way down his throat.

He panicked, suddenly needing to live, needing to cling to life. But it was too late. His last thought before he blacked out was at least there’d be no gruesome scene for anyone to stumble across.