[ WP ] what the world would be like if you had never been born .

A young man turned 25 today. He didn ’ t know it was his birthday because he was usually strung out on heroine. He had met a girl a few months prior named Summer. Summer was a fun woman, but she had a 5-year-old son, a dead husband, and an addiction. Summer introduced him to heroine, and the two haven ’ t been apart since. 
 
 He lived with his parents. He never moved out after high school. His mother was in prison again. His mother was never sober, which made wrecking vehicles a lot easier. She was in prison for her 7th DUI in the last 15 years. 
 
 On his birthday, his dad came to his bedroom door. 
 
 “ Hey! It ’ s almost noon. Wake up ” his dad said loudly while knocking on the door. 
 
 Jesse groaned. He resented his father for trying to get him to wake up. ‘ Can ’ t he just let me sleep? ’ he thought to himself. 
 
 He rolled over to look at his phone. It was 11:53. There were 12 texts from Summer. 
 
 “ Come on. Wake up. We need to talk. ” His dad said again. 
 
 Twenty minutes later Jesse walked into the kitchen wearing only his boxers and socks. His dad was sitting at the small kitchen table that could hardly fit 2 people, which made dinners challenging when his mother wasn ’ t in prison. 
 
 “ I want to tell you something that I haven ’ t told you before, ” his dad said softly. He was silent for a moment before he began again. 
 
 “ You were supposed to have a sister. Your mother promised me she would stop doing drugs the first time she was pregnant. I had to work a lot to pay child support and she spent a lot of time alone at the house. She had men come over while I was at work because she was lonely and they brought her drugs, ” he explained. 
 
 Jesse thought about his older half brother who turned 28 a few months ago. He hadn ’ t heard from him in 10 years. Jesse wondered if he was still alive. His father was married before he met his mother, and they were poor when he was growing up. ‘ Fuck, we still are poor ’ Jesse thought to himself. 
 
 “ I always wondered how life would be different if you had an older sister, ” he said, mostly to himself. “ Let ’ s have Summer and her son over for dinner. Happy Birthday, Son. ” 
 
 Jesse forgot today was his birthday.
