He is sitting in a dark, empty room, the air thick with the stench of mold, a beer bottle in hand and the bitter cold of winter biting at his fingers. He looks out vacantly through the window onto the street— the back of a council flat, an eerie road, and an unsettling atmosphere stretching before him. He slowly removes his glasses; his eyes are glazed with tears, and he feels like he’s about to explode. After placing the blood pressure monitor on his arm, what he had predicted proves true: his blood pressure has skyrocketed, reading 170 over 120, and his pulse is as fast as a racing car. He sighs. Alone, his misery deepens tenfold.
Suddenly, a sharp sound breaks the silence from the hallway— a delivery has arrived. Lacking energy, he stands and shuffles toward the door, only to find a leaflet from the local Chinese restaurant at his feet. Picking up the advertisement, he notices something interesting in the small print: a deal offering free home delivery for the first customer to message the restaurant with their order. Curiosity piqued, the man uses an old, beat-up Nokia phone from 2003 to place his order.
Within 15 minutes, his meal arrives. He digs into the food, still gazing out the window, the heavy rain pattering against the glass, while dark gray— almost black— clouds loom ominously over the flat.
…..to be continued