text: 6:34 pm. Charlie was just pulling up to his drive after a hard day at work for Charlie was working as a sound technician for a new upcoming film set in Leeds. He drove a silver Vauxhaull Astra, he had bought it off his older brother two years prior. Charlie was a 29-year-old with a light stubble on the underside of his chin making him look a lot younger however he was a strong man, physically fit which was being shown by his blue shirt nearly ripping off his chest when stretching after stepping out of his car. He was around 6 foot 2 inches tall and didn’t seem to have much money being evident by his shoes being dirty and old and having a small house which used to belong to his grandmother after she passed away by taking her own life in said house. Charlie and his grandmother were always very close and when she died when Charlie was 20, he was obviously very distraught. As Charlie opened his house door, he was suddenly attacked by a small ball of fluff. This was his pet dog Layla who ran up to him and jumped up in excitement and even let out a small wee. Charlie returned this love back to Layla by petting her forehead and giving her a large belly rub. They then decided to sit in front of the television and have a rest after a stressful day. 8:16 pm. Charlie jolted up from out of his sofa. He had fallen asleep whilst watching tv and Layla had managed to find her way into the treat jar and ended up and smashing it, waking him up. As Charlie was walking towards the kitchen area where the smash took place, he went into his cupboard and grabbed the old broom that his grandmother used to use herself. He swept all the broken glass into a corner and went to look for his dustpan and brush. Whilst he was looking, he found a packet of cigarettes that he had bought the previous day that was unopened. He placed them in his pocket and continued to search. Charlie eventually found it in the bathroom under the sink and returned to the kitchen. He then spent a few minutes collecting all the shards of glass into the dustpan and placed them all in the bin except for one sharp shard which he placed on the kitchen counter top. 8:43 pm. By this time Charlie was starting to get hungry and went to the kitchen to try and locate anything edible. And he did except for it was only edible to Layla. “fucks sake” Charlie muttered under his breath for he spent his last small amount of money on the cigarettes in his pocket and wouldn’t be getting paid until two days’ time. He gave Layla her food and went back to the living room and lit up one of his cigarettes. Puff, puff, puff. One down. He lit another. Puff, puff, puff. Another one down. Charlie went to the corner of the room where on a little table, there was a picture of a little girl. This little girl was in fact Charlie’s young daughter Emily who would have just turned 5. Charlie didn’t see much of Emily for him and his partner Charlotte split up shortly after she was born, and Charlotte took full custody of Emily and only allowing Charlie to see her once every 2 months. However, as Charlie lit up his third cigarette a tear fell from the corner of his right eye. Puff, puff, puff. 9:07 pm. Charlie got up from the sofa once more after a while of thinking to go to the toilet, for he had just finished his last bottle of beer that he had in his fridge. On returning to the living room, Charlie noticed that he couldn’t find Layla inside. He called all over the house, however Charlie wasn’t very worried for this was rather common for Layla to go into the back garden at this time of day. So, Charlie opened his back door and called out for Layla, and again, and again, and again... Charlie was starting to get worried for she normally came bolting back to the house after the first call. He was panicking now, thinking something had happened. But then he heard a faint bark that was undeniably that of Layla, but it was round the front of his house. He went around to the front drive through a gate that joined the drive to the back garden. There Layla was and Charlie felt very relieved to see her. However, something wasn’t quite right; she didn’t come running up to Charlie like she usually did, in fact, she wasn’t moving at all. She only let out a faint yelp and Charlie came running. She was lying motionless in the centre of the road and when Charlie lent down to see her, he saw blood. Lots of blood. Layla had been hit by a car and Charlie was too late, she died in his arms as he carried her towards the house limp and lifeless... 10:28 pm. The burial was done. Layla was buried in the back garden next to her favourite spot, right next to the daisies. Charlie went back into his house and finished wiping away the tears for Layla was the closest thing he had to family and his relationship with his parents was poor and he hadn’t spoken to them for at least 2 years when they had a falling out about Charlies career and problems with drug addiction which he had since overcome. He went to his office which was next to his room and only contained a desk, chair and pen and paper. Charlie decided he would write 5 letters to 5 people. His Mum, his Dad, his brother, Charlotte his ex-partner and one to Emily for when she turned 18. In each of the letters he ended them with “I love you, and I’m sorry. Charlie”. He labelled each letter to who he wanted them to go to and left them on his bedside table. 11:08 pm. Charlie decided that he needed a bath. He started to run the water and let it run. As the water was running, Charlie went to the kitchen to get a glass of water before his bath when he noticed the sharp shard of glass, he had left on the kitchen side. He picked it up and returned to the bathroom. The water was steaming, just how he liked his bath, and just like he had liked them from since he was a young boy. He climbed into the bath and placed the shard of glass by the taps that let the water out. Charlie lay there for a short while, soaking in the warm water. But then he sat upright. He grasped the shard of glass and placed it against his wrist. Tears streaming down his face, Charlie cut across his skin. The water turned red, and he made another slit, and another and another. A few minutes had passed and there was no evidence that the water was once water for Charlie was lying in a pool of blood. But Charlie lay still and motionless.