The Ritual

by Adam L.G. Nevill

Single and still living like a student; a man with no clear goals or purpose as she perceived him; a dreamer; a loser.

If he were honest, something had happened to him in his late twenties that seemed to manoeuvre him away from other people, not just his friends, but from the normal course of human affairs.

Invitations to join others lessened, then ceased before he was thirty-two. Only damaged and insecure women seemed to find comfort in his company, though they had little interest in him besides his being a confirming presence. By thirty-four he was lonely. Lonely. Genuinely.

Why did some people have everything: careers, money, love, children, and some nothing?

He would probably die incomplete, undecided, and disappointed.