One Single Choice

March 2025

More info on Cory's background in the prequel story about his family - parts one, two, three.

It had been hard to find, the first time he came here; he could only vaguely remember the place from his childhood visits with his father.

A quiet spot off to the side, against a wall that didn't seem as tall as it had been, back then.  The grave was tidy, and someone - probably his father - had grown a pot of flowers there.  Red, her favourite colour.

He wasn't here to leave flowers.  He wasn't sure why he was here at all... only that he'd been coming here a lot lately, after years of never wanting to see the place.

Cory had kept his promise.  He'd been telling the truth, when he told Rose that he wasn't drinking again. Not yet, anyway.

It'd be so easy, one single choice, one promise broken, and all the bad feelings go away.  And what's one promise, anyway?  Is it even worth keeping one promise, when you've broken so many others?

He'd promised Rose he'd never lie to her, but he'd lied when he said that he didn't know what was wrong.  He knew exactly what was wrong.

He'd lied to his brother, too.

"...it was your friend that did the kissing, not you.  It's not like you did anything wrong or anything, is is?"

"Well, no... "

But it wasn't just Samantha who'd done the kissing.  And it wasn't just the fact that he'd wanted that kiss that was eating away at him now.  

The truth was, he still wanted it, and more, every time he saw her.

"The last time you acted like this, you were seven years old and your mother had left."

Sometimes his father was so perceptive, it frightened him.  It was when he was seven years old, that he'd first learned the difference that a single choice can make.

He'd lied when he told them that he didn't remember his mother.

He hadn't known what it meant, but he'd known that it was wrong.

He'd known that if he told anyone, something terrible would happen.  So he hadn't told anyone.

And something terrible had happened.

He could reason that it would have turned out the same, no matter what he'd done... his father had found out anyway, some weeks later.

But maybe if his father had found out sooner...... maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have gotten pregnant to her lover... maybe his parents could have worked it out... maybe she wouldn't have died.

April wasn't the only one he'd hated back then.

There was only one way that this could end.  He'd never believed in destiny before,but now it seemed so clear.  His father had once told him that he didn't have to re-live his mother's life.  His father had been wrong.

Even back then, he couldn't possibly have hated himself any more than he did right now.

----

Oh, Cory... 

I didn't do this, he got himself into this mess all by himself!  I had a particular storyline planned for him, but he made a choice in-game - one single autonomous action, that blew it all apart.  While I was taking the pictures for the New Year update, Samantha tried to kiss him.  Not the first time that's happened, but the first time that he didn't reject her.

I was going to have some more detailed notes here about what happened after that and why I'm writing it in this particular way, but I decided to let the story stand on its own for now - with the addition of a couple of screen shots.

Cory, again:

... so Cory has some choices to make here... or, at least, I have some choices to make for him.  The reasons for what we decide make sense to me in terms of his character, and I hope they'll make sense in the story, too - if not now then, by the time I finish telling it. :)


This was originally the ending of the previous entry, but I decided to make it a separate one, partly because the other one is long on its own, and partly because, although it doesn't feature Samantha, its the one part of Cory's story that anyone who is only following the SBP needs to read, in order to make sense of what happens for the rest of Samantha's stay here.