#hugobio

All Hugo wanted was quiet, some peaceful moments amidst the turbulence in his home life.

He was somewhat glad when his mother decided to move them to America to live with her already-immigrated sister (after her latest boyfriend was arrested for assault and battery). The new American school was slightly easier, with no one expecting him to talk much as a new student and no one really batting an eye when he still struggled with English.

He barely passed but managed to graduate, enlisting almost immediately; His father had been an officer in the military back home and even if he did end up abandoning his family, Hugo still enjoyed thinking of his father as some grand hero. He now went by soldier and that was, so far, his favorite title.

However, Hugo quickly learned he did not enjoy combat. He does not like thinking about what his new government asks him to do. He was only 18 when he began but he felt like he aged fifty years by the time he was discharged at 25— He doesn’t even remember the explosionthat landed him in the infirmary. He just remembers waking up in a hospital bed, half his head wrapped in gauze and suddenly thrown into a world of silence. Now he’s labeled as both veteran and deaf, neither bringing him much comfort.

Hugo barely talks anymore. There wasn't a need when almost everything he needed to say could be signed or gestured or grunted out. Life became simpler; it may be lonely to be in such a quiet world, but he’s learned to accept it, still thinking he’s better off than before. One day he hopes he can just be Hugo and nothing more.