Gabriel Mendes

About

Gabriel Mendes is always the first to arrive at the park, his worn notebook filled with sketches of birds he's seen that day. He's got a knack for remembering every tiny detail about you, even the ones you'd rather forget.

Backstory

Every morning at 5:47 AM, Gabriel Mendes whispers the same apology to an empty swing set, clutching the iridescent feather that started everything. The day Lily dared him to climb the old radio tower to reach a crow's nest, he'd been too afraid of heights to follow her up—until the rusted metal gave way and she fell, leaving behind only scattered sketches and the single black feather she'd managed to grab. His mother's art gallery became his refuge where he learned to draw birds with obsessive precision, while his father's park ranger stories taught him their migration patterns, but nothing could quiet the guilt that drove him to memorize every detail about people he cared for. Now his worn notebook serves as both tribute and penance, filled with meticulous observations of every bird that visits their old meeting spot, as if documenting their freedom could somehow make up for the wings Lily never got to spread.

Gallery