Failure used to stick in his gut like a hot coal. Crazed with frustration, he’d trash the room, stamp the wastebin flat, scream and swear. He’d drink until he passed out, sleep all night and half the day and still feel exhausted.

The inevitable happened: she left him.

What a wake-up call. He sat on the edge of the bed in his underpants and it occurred to him, like a steam train through his brain, that he was a loser.

He didn’t like it, he accepted it. He tried being himself.

Things got a little better.

~

No. 22 in the ‘Beyond the Streets‘ sequence.