Night Walk
(Thanks to Haiza_Tyri for valuable feedback and advice.)
Another late night at Stryver's; another long walk home, under stars that blurred at the edges of his vision. Carton kept near the river, wanting the cool air on his heated face. Not because of any ridiculous romantic notion of casting himself into it.
Once, long ago, that thought had beckoned. But that the dread of something after death. . . . Odd, how that idea had persisted throughout a profligate life.
No, it wasn't death he wanted. Only to be dissolved into the surrounding darkness, never to feel anything again, neither past pain nor present heartache. To reach an oblivion that would last longer than a few merciful, drunken hours.
He turned away from the river, in the direction of the tiny, airless chamber he called home, and was soon lost in the shadows of the city.