For Emma, Forever Ago

Note: Tom Bull image just on introduction.
Will not be on Chapter 1.

Emmelia Whisten has lived alone for as long as she cares to remember. She had a boyfriend, once - a young man named Iver. They lived together on the Northern side of Italy, between Verona and Trento, in a small town called Rovereto. Lived together, technically, since their parents were killed in the war known as the "End of the World". World War I. They had worked their wine fields together, and kept a pasture of cows. It was a simple life, a happy life. The mornings were bright eyes on the dawn, watching as their lips grasped at one another, and the evenings were a thousand silent moments watching in turn as the sun kissed the horizon. Emmelia never expected Iver to leave - but then, how can you expect a war the world itself was never prepared for?

Iver Bell had always been a peaceful man, but the war changed him, somehow. In some dark, primal ways which he could never quite understand. Part of it was the chest which he dragged behind him up the dirt road, part of it was the throbbing in his ears, and yet still part of it hid in the darkest corner of his mind and still snarled when someone unlocked a door or clicked a pen cap. He had never expected to fight and he never expected to return home - he's still not completely sure if he has. Iver Bell was a broken man.

Only his letters give him a taste of happiness.

Only two sharpened points bring him peace: his pencil, and his needle.

Only Emmelia can save his life -

and she's not even sure that there's anyone left to save.

NOTE: Contains some scenes of intense verbal and physical violence, post-traumatic stress and mental disorders, and drug abuse. May not be appropriate for readers under 13 - or for those struggling with recovery. Trigger warnings not covered.

Written for: "An Album of Inspiration". Using Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago"

Work in Progress.