The Second Chance He Burned

He had everything most people spend their lives chasing ' a good job, a house, a partner who loved him, and a second chance he didn't deserve. Years before, a drink-driving charge had been quietly reduced. He walked away with a warning most never get. Then one night he chose his pride over two miles of walking and wrapped his truck around a power pole. No one was hurt ' except the future he still could have saved. Prison came. Then house arrest. His employer offered him indoor work. His partner found him other jobs. He refused them all. Said it was beneath him. Shouted at the person keeping him afloat instead. Eventually he left. Not long after, his parents found him dead. I don't mourn the man he became. I mourn the damage he scattered on everyone else while he fell.