Degradation

In the wake of what looks to be a grizzly and very clear murder /suicide in a remote town, police stumble upon a journal written by the father and alleged murderer. The journal is found atop a desk inside the house and is turned to one of the last pages. On this page, they find a few ominous scribblings that are clearly from a man who had lost all self-control and maybe even his sanity.

- I can’t stop having this dream. But it doesn’t feel like a dream, but more a “sign.”

- Today might be the day. Courage is with me.

- That was actually much easier than I thought. 1 down, and 2 until total freedom.

- What have I just done? It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME ITWASNTME. fuck. It was me.

_______________________

Alex Franklin is an extremely successful architect living in New York City with his wife Sophie who works as a fashion director for a large magazine and his two teenage children Caleb and Alexandria. As Alex is approaching his 50th birthday he’s becoming more and more unhappy and even unsettled in the crowded and expensive city he was born and raised in.

With his newly surfaced anxiety setting in, he begins to make a plan to hopefully head off any future run-ins with his own inner demons that could cause even more of a mental, physical, and emotional burden on himself but more importantly to his family.

Alex quickly realizes that the wealth he has accumulated over the years is more than enough to not only purchase a new life in a quiet town but to also allow him to still live comfortably while taking a step back in his firm and working remotely part-time as a consultant. He and Sophie began planning a big move across the country to the most remote area they could find in a small community called Stehekin, Washington.

Upon moving he feels instantly refreshed and renewed surrounded by mountains, trees, and lakes in a town with no vehicle access aside from boat or fly plane, the same sentiment however can’t be said for his children and wife.

After only a few months, the situation only becomes worse as tensions grow between the family. With nowhere to go, the kids begin to lash out at both Alex and Sophie as well as one another. Without the enjoyment of being in the big city where nothing can’t be found within a single block, Sophie, who was raised in a very affluent family is quickly bored and drained of joy and comfort that she never knew was so important to her as it had always come to her naturally in the crowds she was used to in New York.

As Alex is trying to navigate the understanding of his family’s unhappiness amongst his newfound “freedom,” his mental state slowly begins to degrade as he has found himself sitting alone in solitude most days in his tucked away office listening to classical music and writing a personal journal that he started upon moving. The very first entry was titled “Today is the beginning of a beautiful new life.”