"Urgh"
A low, muffled groan reverberated through the vast expanse of the deep ravine. Adrian was engulfed in a world of excruciating pain. Thoughts of screaming danced in his mind, a desperate attempt to drown out the agony that surged through him. But he held back, knowing that any loud cry would only provoke the sharp jabs of his fractured ribs, which seemed to stab mercilessly into his lungs. Every shallow breath was a reminder of his torment, wrapping him in a suffocating embrace of anguish. His legs twisted and broken beneath him from the fall. Blood flowed freely from the wounds he had sustained in a desperate flight from his relentless pursuers. Dazed and fading, he felt the weight of a bullet lodged in his head, each heartbeat a reminder of how close he was to the edge, teetering on the brink of oblivion.
As he stands on the brink of death, Adrian reflects on the life he has led. Far from peaceful, his existence has been steeped in violence, betrayal, and bloodshed. He chose this path deliberately, driven by his ambitions and the final promise he made to the only person who ever truly loved him—his mother.
Adrian lived with his mom in a remote part of the countryside. They were as broke as you can get, and she had to juggle a bunch of jobs just to keep food on the table. He had no clue who his dad was, and his mom never mentioned him at all. Adrian often got into fights with other kids because they made comments about his mom and the whole dad situation. In their small town, rumours spread like wildfire, and people looked down on him and his mom. He'd yell at her, demanding to know about his dad, but she'd just smile and ruffle his hair, making him feel better. In those moments, he'd forget all the annoying stuff and hug her.
Growing up, Adrian never wanted anything for himself or had great ambitions. All he ever wanted was to stay by his mother's side and make her happy, but he never got a chance to do that as his mother was diagnosed with a terminal disease. When she realised her time was short and she wouldn't be around to watch over Adrian, She started to teach him how to live and how to take better care of himself when she wasn't around. Adrian found it strange that she was saying a lot of serious stuff, but he never asked her why, and he listened to whatever she taught him. Her health deteriorated further, and she left bedridden since there was no use in keeping him in the dark. She revealed to him the truth about her disease and the fact that she wouldn't live for long. Also, she made him give her a promise, a promise that he would move forward no matter what, he would shatter whatever stood in his way to reach the summit of absolute. Adrian didn't understand what any of that meant. He asked her, but she just smiled and ruffed his hair like she always does. He kept grieving that in time he would not feel her warmth, but he swore himself that he would realise what she wanted and fulfil his promise to her.
Even though he was grief-stricken to learn about his mother's inevitable demise, he kept his grief under wraps and helped her in any way he could. He quit school and went to work to earn money for her medical expenses. He knows none of the medication will cure, yet he hoped it would, at the very least, ease her suffering. So he worked tirelessly to provide for her, but fate wasn't kind to him. One day, he found his mother lying in bed unresponsive. He yelled at her, shouted at her, pleaded and begged her to wake up, but she never did, as she passed away in her sleep. Grief overwhelmed his heart as he cried and shed tears until he had no tears left.