The house was small. 

Although it sat in the middle of the forest, the wood, the floors, the air smelled of the ocean.

It was a pure, fresh smell, cloaked in fog.

There were a few tree branches that snuck in through the window, and the rain poured through the cracks on lonely nights.

During the day it became an abode for a lonely man. During the night it became a hiding place, a trap that housed ghosts and nightmares.

It stood still in the day but came to life at night.

Listen closely, the sound of a man who has no home.

The house was small.

There were days when he wouldn't talk, days when he could not handle it. There were days when he felt like leaving, but he couldn't.

He would always return to this house, no matter the circumstance.

There were thousands of papers scattered across the floor, some never opened again, never read or unraveled. Messy scrawl of black charcoal and marker littering the walls.

He hated it.

He hated everything about it.

The walls were peeling and he watched the ghosts dance at midnight. His words came back to haunt him when the moon was out, and he read every last sentence written on the walls until morning. Sometimes there was rain, and other times it was a biting wind that swept up his soul.

Nothing cleansed his mind.

Even as the cold air swept through the open windows, he would still remain the same. He would be the same man until the the sun went down and returned the next day. Still, he would be the same even as the autumn leaves swept into his small house, even as they became apart of his mixed up words. As they collected in the corner, rotting.

He would stay the same.

The house was silent, always. 

He could not remember what music sounded like anymore, he forgot what happiness felt like. He couldn't tell what freedom tasted like. Everything was the same.

Someday, he thought, he would like to sit down and write all about his life, but there was nothing to write about. He had no life, this house was his life and everything enclosed.

If he could collect all the papers hanging on the walls he thinks he might have had a million.

Then he wonders how many times he returned to this house.

The doors and windows were always open but there was no escape.

...

There was a throbbing pain in my head that just wouldn't go away. 

It was nearly three in the morning, the moon disappeared behind the dark clouds and the cold night sky caused me to shiver. It was the beginning of Autumn and for some reason the air seemed cooler than in Winter months.

Small bumps broke out under the skin of my arm and I tilted my head to look out the window. From this angle I could see the stars that shone through breaks in the sky.

I hated it. I hated how they shone even though there was nobody watching them. They glistened only for their happiness and no one else's. It was something I could not do. I hated that about the stars, there was such a sadness behind it. Sometimes I think the only reason people watch the night sky are the times they have to keep their tears from falling.

I think that sounds right. Humans are like that.

I'm like that.

Another painful throb and my headache increased, I sighed heavily and leaned my head outside the window. The cool air danced across my face, and scattered quickly. Today was worse than most days, watching the stars on an empty stomach with a thin scarf to keep me warm. Perhaps that is why I have become so fragile and thin. If only I was not trapped where I wasn't supposed to be then perhaps I could have continued to live. Maybe I could have at least got a decent meal every night, to think decent thoughts, to live as a normal man. Like I used to.

When my thoughts grab ahold of me the only things I seem to think about is money and how much power it has, but I won't talk about that now. These thoughts are what changes things and humans don't like change. I think that's what irks me so much about this world. I always kept my mouth shut, and now I wonder when I started to conform to the likeness of ignorant people.

I picked up a pencil from the pile I had left on the floor and stood facing the windowsill. I wrote about the stars that night, I remembered a quote from a book I used to read.

-People have stars but they aren't the same. For travelers, the stars are guides. For other people, they're nothing but tiny lights. And for others, who are scholars, they are problems...But all those stars are silent. You...You alone will have stars like nobody else. In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars are laughing when you look at the night sky. You, only you will have stars that can laugh. And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. It will be as if I had given you, instead of stars, a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh.-

Yes, somehow I had begun to hate the stars as well.

<><><>

Yesterday was Junhong's birthday.

All his life the only thing he wanted to be was a photographer. Coming from a small town, he knew the idea was unrealistic but he didn't mind much. His best friend Jiho told him he could do anything he set his mind to. 

Park Jiho was the kindest, most warm-hearted person in the small town they lived in. To Junhong he had the brightest smile he had ever seen, the first thing he wanted to do when he got his new camera was take pictures of his best friend, Park Jiho.

..

It was a Thursday and we were sitting in the classroom that we normally ate lunch in. Jiho stood by the window, watching the trees sway on this particularly windy day. The cold air entered in the classroom and I admired the way it tousled Jiho's shiny black hair. I continued to eat my lunch, appreciating the silence that usually surrounded us. Suddenly Jiho turned and stretched his arms out to me, encircling me in a strong embrace.

"Jiho?" I asked and looked up at him. Jiho smiled softly, and took my food from my hands, setting it on the desk I was sitting on.

"After school today, were going into the city to get you that new camera you've been wanting." I immediately perked up at what Jiho was saying, my eyes widened and Jiho laughed at my shocked expression. "Don't be so surprised, you knew I was going to buy it for you." 

Yes, that's true, I just didn't know I would be getting my camera so soon. We had been planning this for months now, and the new camera I wanted was expensive so we decided to split the cost. I was extremely grateful for Jiho's kindness. I stood up and hugged Jiho and he ruffled my brown hair.

That camera was Jiho's birthday gift to me. 

I felt guilty because the amount was a lot, but I promised to take a lot of pictures of Jiho to make up for it. He seemed happy by the idea. "Thank you for doing this Jiho." I hugged him tightly and he laughed a little at my display of affection. Jiho was one year older than I was and a grade higher as well, but that was to be expected. We live close to a small town and that's where we attend school but there aren't many people who go there anyways. Of course Jiho and I get along well but we never knew why. We're one of the few kids who live scattered, away from the small town where everyone else lived. It's a bit annoying how that worked out, but I didn't complain much. My house is about a ten minute walk from Jiho's but there are hardly any houses where we live, there are a lot of forests around, and you can see mountains in the distance. It's quite peaceful here, but there aren't a lot of new places where I can take pictures.

It was October, my birthday month and the nights were longer and colder. We didn't have much daylight and it took a while to get in and out of the city so we had to leave right after school ended. The city was quite small as well, but that was the only place where they sold the camera that I had wanted. 

...

Since we wasted too much time in that small city, Jiho decided that it would be better to eat dinner first and then head back home. I agreed of course, it would give me time to figure out how to work my new camera. Today Jiho had been smiling more than usual and I wanted to capture the moment. 

We chose a restaurant and then headed inside to eat. I was fumbling with my new camera the whole way, mumbling things to Jiho and telling him how excited I was while he hummed happily.  

When we were seated, Jiho looked at the menu and asked me what I wanted. I shrugged, too focused on my camera to care about food, "How do I work this thing?" I asked myself while Jiho shook his head and scrolled through his phone. He was probably messaging his mom, letting her know what time we'd be back. A few more minutes of messing with the camera when I finally figured it out, "Oh...I got it!" I focused the camera on Jiho and zoomed in on his face, laughing. "Wow, you're very handsome, Jiho. You look like a celebrity." He glanced up, reacting to my silly antics with a soft laugh. 

"Hey, for every picture you take of me, I'm charging you five dollars." He mumbled and hid behind his hands.

I grinned, "In that case, you're gonna be rich by the end of this month." I replied and he grinned, an amused chuckled left his mouth while he returned to his phone. I reacted quickly and immediately snapped a picture of his smile. I excitedly looked at the picture and showed it to Jiho, he just shook his head with a smile still on his features. "I wonder what I should take pictures of. There's never anything new where we live it's always the same." The waitress came over and Jiho ordered drinks for the both of us while I zoomed in on the restaurant's menu. Now that I think about it, I had been planning for months to get this camera and I can't even think of something to take pictures of. The nature where we live is beautiful but it's not what I wanted to capture, I wanted something else.

While I was thinking, I decided that today had to be the best day of my life. Jiho's smile wasn't fading and I felt happy, now that I think about it I was always happy when I was with Jiho. I never had classes with him at school, but I always ate lunch with him. We hung out in that small, dusty classroom that I hated, but Jiho seemed to love. He liked it because it was peaceful and he could hear the younger kids laughing outside. He liked it because he could see the seasons changing. Jiho loved trees, he adored the way they would reach for the sky even though they were firmly rooted to the ground.

I noticed Jiho watching me weirdly and I snapped out of the trance I had been in. "Sorry, what did you say?" I asked, shaking my head. Jiho smiled fondly at my embarrassment. 

"Junhong, what do you want to eat?" He asked, speaking mockingly slow. I kicked his leg gently from under the table and he yelped in surprise, I laughed at him as he rubbed his shin. 

"I'll eat whatever you're ordering." I reached over the table and patted his shoulder. I never wanted to take Jiho for granted. Sometimes I wondered why his family moved out to this place, where there were hardly any people and a lot of woods. Jiho told me his family liked isolated places and I could understand that. I once asked Jiho if he ever wanted to leave the small area we lived in and he only shook his head.