Free Until There Was You by J.J. Bamber

future. He saw himself and Bailey walking, swinging their arms in unison, smiling. Nate settled on this image, this snapshot of unity and wholeness, and let the warmth of it settle in his body and guide him to his first deep sleep in weeks.
    *~*~*
    Nate stood next to Cecily, Bailey hanging onto his back and Tommy hugging Cecily's leg, and looked into the deep abyss of the storage shed. Nate stared at the boxes housing the things that had made up his life for so long. The boxes were  in rows and stacked carefully, which made the space look impersonal, showing no signs of the heartbreak and loss that they represented. Little images and memories flickered through Nate's brain like an old projector spinning through a family album. He remembered how much it had rained on the day that they had bought their bed and how Joshua had tried to cover him with his coat. For a second, Nate thought that he could smell Joshua's aftershave in the air and the unique smell that the vintage coat gave off when it got wet. It took all of his strength not to turn around in the desperate hope that Joshua would be standing there as if nothing had happened and it was just another ordinary day. Nate could remember little glimpses of history for almost every item that was being stored in the shed, and the weight of the history felt a little overwhelming. He thought about how strange it was that everything he ever owned could be folded up and stored away in the darkness of a storage space.
    They stood there looking at the accoutrements of a life that no longer existed, that maybe hadn't even really existed. Nate felt Cecily grab his hand. He squeezed back encouragingly, making it clear that he was keeping it together. Bailey yawned, bored. He'd made sure that all of his favorite things were put in the car and was itching to do something fun.
    "Okay, I'm ready... We can go now." Nate swallowed hard, suppressing the shiver of doubt that spiraled through his body. He couldn't stand looking at the boxes forever, imagining ways that things could have gone differently, could have gone better.
    He put Bailey on the ground and shut the heavy door. It closed with a satisfying, defiant thud. The closing of a chapter resonated inside of him; the closing up of a wound and the opening of another. Nate picked Bailey back up and walked to his car, watching as tufts of dust drifted upwards underneath his boots. After he kissed Bailey on the cheek and secured him in his car seat, Nate stretched out. He raised his arms towards the sun, decompressing his spine.
    Cecily stood behind him, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Do you know where you're going? Or what you're going to do once you get there?" she asked quietly.
    Nate pulled his hands through his hair and then pushed them into his pockets. "I'm gonna stay with my friend Steven. He lives two hours north in a nice little town. Then I'm going to save up some money and rent a little place, somewhere with a writing nook. I'll find Bailey a new school and write my book, and later in the year, I'll do the interview circuit. And hopefully I'll be able to get enough money together at some point to come back to the city." Nate shrugged and gave a crooked, unconfident smile. "It's not that exciting, but it's a plan."
    "It's a good plan, it's a solid plan." Tommy ran around Cecily, tugging at her dress, clearly impatient.
    "I'm gonna go; I think the kids are getting antsy," Nate said, nodding towards Bailey and Tommy.
    "Yep. I love you, Nate. You're going to be fine." She stepped forward and hugged Nate. "See you soon, Bailey," she said over his shoulder. Nate hugged harder for a second, taking a little bit of strength from an old friend, clinging to the last thing that would be familiar in a long time, the last bit of life in the city.
    Nate got into the car and buckled his seatbelt. "Wave to Aunt Cecily... We're not going to see her for a little while." Bailey bounced up and down in his seat and started waving frantically as