VINYLWORDS

biography

tw: death, substance abuse

ONE
noise, laughter and love always filled the Silva house, there was so much energy inside of it that it was hard to ever find a dull moment. two boys, who were just two years apart, were the trouble magnets of the house. samuel and tomás were attached to the hip, for the oldest one his younger sibling became a sort of active toy, someone he could share his interests with and who he could always count on. and tomás adored and looked up his older brother.

since he can remember, sam always made sure that his brother was included on any activities, in every play date, wherever he went so did his brother. the two of them were so similar that sam’s friends never seemed to have an issue with bringing the younger Silva along.

TWO - march 10th 2005
the boys had spent the entire day out with friends, just a regular day. the sun was beginning to set, which meant it was time for them to head back home. they always took the same route, it was nothing out of the ordinary except tomy decided to stay just five more minutes, he said he would catch up with sam in no time.

the oldest sibling agreed, and began his walk home, he was walking slower than usual, giving his brother a chance to catch up. it was then when he hear it, a loud noise of a car, a crash. he wouldn’t be able to explain what exactly made him turn around and run back, but he did. he ran as fast as he possibly could, there was no time to give it a second thought, the feeling in his gut simply kept telling him he wasn’t running fast enough.

and the feeling was right. by the time he reached the source of the sound, it was a big commotion. people were surrounding the scene, the paramedics and the police had arrived, and a sense of sadness had completely taken over him. he was doing his best to attempt and take a look, to see what was going on, and it took him just a peek to figure it out.

a hand, one that had the exact same bracelet he did, the one that belonged to tomy. his legs began to shake, and he could feel everything spinning around him. somehow he managed to move forward before his legs finally gave up and all he could do was scream.

THREE
nothing was the same after tomy’s death, the once joyful atmosphere that surrounded the family had vanished. sam was ever rarely around his parent’s house, let alone talk to them. the grief became a part of him, growing and spreading into every corner of his soul, until he couldn’t take it anymore. for the first two years he drowned himself in alcohol, enjoying the feeling of numbness that it brought him.

near the third anniversary of tomy’s death, sam found a box with a couple of his things. a handful of paper cranes they had built while tomy attempted to explain him how it was done, a list of places they said they wanted to travel before tomy left for college, and a mixtape with a note on his handwriting.

seeing all this things simply broke him once again, but there was something that also brought some comfort. the memories were still there, the happy feelings were fresh, and it was that night that he decided he would do something else, and find a way to honor his memory.

FOUR
samuel packed his things and left, he began to travel to the places they had marked. leaving his hometown felt like taking a weight off his shoulders, like somehow he was getting closer to find a sense of peace.

it became his new normal, never sticking somewhere for too long and instead traveling to new places, constantly searching for something that he didn’t exactly knew what it was.

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