Wonder doesn't remember the last time he cracked a joke.
Whatever that joke was, it's now lost amidst a whole sea of quick chuckles and vague memories of thinking that everything was going to be alright.
He wants to go back to those days. The days when everything actually was alright. The days when the only bad thing that happened was his mother getting mad at him for slacking off.
He walks by himself along the sidewalk on one of the quieter streets branching off from the main shopping district. The sky is cloudy and the air is crisp. But according to a few people, it's apparently the perfect weather for ice cream.
A father and two kids - a boy and a girl - exit an ice cream parlor up ahead, all carrying towering cones and scoops. All laughter and smiles. The kids stare up at their dad with utter adoration in their eyes.
Wonder turns away as the bile rises in his throat. His heart is twisting in his chest, writhing in bitter jealousy. He suddenly wants nothing to do with this happy little family. They can just piss off and go live their perfect lives somewhere else, out of his sight.
One of the kids lets out a sudden bark of a laugh. The noise reverberates around in Wonder's skull, like that of a ghost taunting him.
He can't take it anymore.
So he runs. He runs as fast and as far away as he can manage.
When his body finally gives up on him, he collapses beside an old brick wall next to a bridge. He leans against the rough concrete and stares through the gaps down at the clear blue river below.
He doesn't even have the energy to cry.