Moonlight spilled through the thin curtains, painting silver streaks across the modest bedroom. The apartment was neither lavish nor bare, a place that carried the quiet weight of simple living. On the walls hung two paintings: one of angels wielding a massive sword no human could hope to lift, and another of a man and woman holding a child between them.
On the bed, a man lay restless. His dark hair was damp with sweat, his deep blue eyes shut tight in uneasy slumber. Then, suddenly, he jolted upright with a scream.
His chest heaved, breath ragged as though he had been running for his life. The faint glow of the bedside lamp cast light over the angles of his handsome face, where faint stubble traced his jaw. He pressed his hands against his knees, trying to steady himself, to slow the pounding in his chest.
Minutes seemed to pass before he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. His body moved with the weariness of someone carrying burdens too heavy for sleep to erase. Crossing the room, he stepped into the living space—a modest area with a couch, two armchairs, and a television sitting silently against the wall.
The man drifted into the small kitchen. He opened the fridge, its pale light revealing shelves cluttered with ready-to-eat noodles, the kind that only needed a quick boil to become a meal. Reaching past them, he pulled out a large bottle of water and poured some into a glass waiting on the dining table. He drank deeply, the cool liquid easing the dryness in his throat, and let out a long sigh.
For a moment, he stood there in the quiet, the hum of the refrigerator the only sound. Then he returned to his bedroom.
On the nightstand, beside the lamp, his phone glowed with a lit screen. Frowning, he picked it up and unlocked it. A new message blinked across the display: a notice from the bank reminding him of a loan. Payment was due by next week.
He stared at the words for a long moment, his jaw tightening. Then he lowered the phone, let it drop onto the table, and sank back onto the bed.
His deep voice broke the silence, low and heavy with worry.
"How am I going to pay this loan?"
The words hung in the stillness of the night, unanswered.