Image by Christine Renney
The day after his eldest brother had taken his own life the boy’s dad drove into work. The boy was eighteen, a man but watching his dad from the passenger seat he felt like a child. His dad, braving it in the faces of the speechless, made no demands that day. And the boy did what he did, which was nothing.
Over the next few days the boy’s dad heard from the others. They all said that nobody would have, that nobody could have, known.
hijacked amygdala 
So much sorry conveyed in this passage…
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Thank you.
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Powerful writing, Mark. I can add no more.
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Thank you Chris.
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I keep looking at Chris’s image. The words, small explosions of emotion, have already made their way into my heart. Perfect pairing….
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Thank you Jana. Yes amazingly Christine always manages to find the right image.
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Reblogged this on The Brokedown Pamphlet and commented:
Christine and I have a new post on Hijacked Amygdala.
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More often than not, men cope with losses passively, because they were socialized to be strong, to not cry, but sometimes, crying is absolutely necessary, like in dealing with the death of a loved one…
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Of course you are absolutely right. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
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This is dark. Makes me think things I’d rather not. But, it made me think things which is good. Thanks? Maybe not thanks haha…but well done.
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Ha! Thank you, glad that it got you thinking. Perhaps I should make it my New Years resolution to at least try to write something funny!
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…and the boy did what he did, which was nothing… I keep coming back to that line. It’s like a lure drawing me further into the layers of the piece, beyond the initial impression… There’s a whole world here, lives and relationships… and so few words. Awesome Mark.
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I carried this one around in my head for quite some time and when I did eventually write it out the line you mention came to me quite spontaneously. Thank you so much Chris for the comment.
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I called across to visit to say ‘ullo’ and ‘thanks’ with a silly, excited grin on my face and feel like I’ve burst through the doors at a sombre meeting. I’ll call back in a bit after the minutes have been done. Powerful piece, though.
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Ha! Sorry to overwhelm. My writing can be or more accurately it is pretty intense . Hope you’ll drop by again though.
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No, no apology needed and yes, I will, in fact I have, to comment again but I will read more too 🙂
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