Hello, Emptiness

The sound of breaking glass wakes Colin and brings him downstairs. But what he finds in his living room is not a burglar. It's just a boy called Joe who is really much too sad to be any kind of danger. Joe is also much too drunk and talkative to be a comfortable companion for Colin. And that's when the boy begins telling the story of what brought him to the Colin's house; describing the events of the days and weeks before and the significance of the heart-shaped locket that he holds in his hands. It is only then that Colin realises just how much he has in common with the painfully lost young man he is talking to.
The eighth part of the Diamonds collection of short stories and a sequel of sorts to both 'The Devil eats Coleslaw' and 'The Graveyard', 'Hello Emptiness' is a story of grief and hope, and how sometimes we can find help from the least likely person in the least likely of circumstances.