IanG

You set the scene well. I can visualise the little boy lying in bed.

I hope this doesn't seem patronising but there's still time for you to find someone, still time for new experiences including a passion you never felt before. In the past, people sometimes rushed into marriage young because the average lifespan was shorter then than now. Today the average person has more time to wait, and to look around before settling down. Don't let anyone pressure you into a commitment if you're not sure.

Your generation is not the first to go through this, but that proves that its possible to get through problems and come out the other side. When I was a teenager there were moral panics over punk rock, racial tensions and changing gender roles. Perhaps some adults forget this. That said, things arn't exactly the same now. Climate change and Covid-19 were not big issues then. I hope you and your generation come out of this wiser and stronger, but with your spirit intact.

You should've used capital letters for God and you forgot it for Snow the first time you mentioned her. That said, its an interesting subject for animal lovers and nature lovers. Keep practising and you'll improve.

You evoke the battle and your narrator's plight afterwards very well. I guessed the ending before the boy and Jake met up again, yet it still moved me. Well done.

A lot of people have felt like this, especially in their teens but sometimes at other ages. You sum it up well.

One of my friends had a hip operation recently and I think she would agree with you. Get better soon.

Yes Thomas, this happens to other people. I seldom write out a plan beforehand and I don't always know when inspiration will strike. My stories don't always work out as I thought they might.
Even full time writers can jot down notes, give up on them and come back years later with better ideas of how to develop the idea. Perhaps you'll be able to finish something in the future when you can't see how to now.