(???'s PoV)
The sun sets low, casting its golden light over the city, and I sit on the rooftop, feeling the weight of my thoughts pressing down on me. It's like this heavy, suffocating fog that never leaves me. For the past few years, it's been one failure after another. Not total failure—no, I passed my exams, but the marks I got? Far from what I hoped for. I took a drop year, hoping for a fresh start, but it all slipped away again. My parents? I could see it in their eyes—they've stopped believing in me. And it kills me every day. The silence, the disappointment that no one dares to speak anymore, but it's there. It's crushing.
I was always told I had so much potential, that I could be something great. But where did that greatness go? It's like I lost it along the way. My phone became my distraction, my way to avoid the pressure, the expectations. I spent hours scrolling through the endless feed, numbing myself, ignoring the future that I knew was slipping away.
And now here I am, sitting on this rooftop, overwhelmed by regrets. I didn't fail. I passed. But not with the marks I wanted, the marks I knew I was capable of. Every time I see someone else succeed, it feels like I'm falling further behind, like I'm running in place, watching everyone leave me behind.
I took another year off, joined a tuition class, handed over my phone to my parents. But it was like I was fighting against myself. The bad habits, the procrastination, the constant self-doubt—they didn't just disappear. The weeks passed, and my test scores were just average. I knew I could do better, but I just... didn't. And every time I saw the disappointment in my parents' eyes, it stung. The worst part? They stopped asking about the tests, stopped pushing me. I could feel them losing hope, and that silence, that absence of any more hope, hurt more than anything they could have said.
Why couldn't I do it? Why couldn't I just sit down and study? What was stopping me from showing my parents that I wasn't a waste? That I could be the person they once believed I could be? I kept thinking about how I'd prove them wrong, how I'd show them I wasn't just a failure, that I could be someone they'd be proud of. But no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many times I promised myself that this time would be different, I still fell short.
And now... now, I'm standing here in the street, my thoughts spiraling out of control. The weight of my failures is crushing me. I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going, but it doesn't matter. My mind is spinning, my thoughts a blur of everything I could have done, everything I didn't do.
I don't see the truck coming. The screech of tires, the blinding headlights, and then—
Pain. It slams into me like a tidal wave. I feel it in every part of my body, a shock that sends me sprawling across the pavement. I can barely breathe. The world around me is fading, and all I can think is that this can't be it. Not like this. Not when there's so much left unsaid, so much left undone.
I want to scream, to tell everyone that I wasn't just wasting time. I wasn't just a lazy failure. I had dreams. I had goals. I wanted to show my parents, especially my parents, that I could do it. I could have been someone they could be proud of. I could have been the son they always hoped for.
"I'm sorry," I manage to whisper, barely able to form the words as my body grows weaker. "I'm sorry I wasn't the son you wanted me to be. I'm sorry... I wasn't good enough."
Tears mix with the blood pooling around me, and I feel so... so powerless. I've wasted so many years. I wanted to do better. I tried to do better. But in the end, I couldn't. And now, it's too late.
"I just wanted to show you," I murmur through the pain, my voice weak. "I wanted to show you I wasn't a waste... I could have done it."
But the world around me is fading, the sounds of life dimming, and all I feel now is a deep, aching emptiness. I didn't get the chance to prove myself. I didn't get the chance to say everything I wanted to say.
And then... everything fades into nothing.
{AN:-Note from this kind author, "Procrastination is the art of convincing yourself there is always more time until time becomes your greatest enemy. It disguises fear as comfort, steals progress under the veil of tomorrow, and trades potential for regret. Remember, every moment you delay is a step further from the life you aspire to build. Act now, for someday is today in disguise." }