Hōge

A bridge separates the living from the dead. Souls cross it in silence, drawn toward the little white door where peace awaits. Finn walks with them, every time. But he is not a soul like the others. He carries a pain he cannot bring himself to accept. And a past he may not want to remember. Hōge is a complete one-shot, created for a contest. A brief story about a world suspended between life and death, about loss and the idea that some endings, perhaps, are just another way to begin. The title comes from the Japanese Zen term 放下 (hōge), which means "to let go", to release what we hold onto, even when it hurts. It felt like the only right word for this story.