Everything around him fell silent as he abandoned the city's main boulevard and turned into a curved street that would lead him directly to his destination. Soon, the only sound reaching his ears was the soft mechanical buzzing of his car.
He could see nothing moving around him. Even the festively decorated shop windows had now surrendered to dull darkness. Their colourful lights were off, the displayed toy trains had stopped clickety clicking, and the mechanical Santa Clauses had paused their jolly yells of 'Merry Christmas'.
The sky was unusually dark that night. Clouds had hidden the stars so that only the pale glimmering shadow of the moon remained to decorate the abysmal darkness of infinity. A perfect mirror of his soul.
Ultimately, he couldn't avoid thinking about it. The thought would swirl around his head for hours and then, when he least expected it, would burn its way through his forehead like a branding iron.
