Just Passing Through

Liv, a teenage girl, is approaching the times of her life that are dominated with choices. With vague ideas and no money to spare, she is unclear on the path of life that she should take. Her parents are persistent with suggestions and comments about what she should do with her future in regards to relationships, work and her future aspirations as something practical and money earning. Her life at home becomes too much to cope with and she can no longer retreat to her bedroom where she normally calms down so leaves the house for a while. Liv passes through into the wood nearby, and finds some peace there. As she walks deeper into the forest she stops and sits down, feeling much more placid now as this is a colourful, quiet place to which she can get away to. An older man then approaches her from within the wood.
He asks her what's wrong as she seems upset. At first she is reluctant to speak as he is a stranger, but soon discovers he's there for the same reason she is, because of domestic disagreements. He tells her his name is Dylan and of his life at home, his wife and family and she tells him of life at her home. He tells her that his wife nags him contantly, the reasons as to why however he is reluctant to dicuss. They soon feel that they have a small connection and feel more comfortable in confiding and advising eachother about their problems. After a long talk about various stories and their life, they both find some inner peace and comfort that the other has provided. They then share a bond of friendship, but the reluctance of Dylan makes Liv curious.
Various meetings help improve what Liv's life is like at home and helps her try and move on to the next chapter of her life on the path she personally wants to take. She also helps Dylan to try and rekindle his love for his wife, and to not take his existing family for granted.
After a couple of week pass, Liv's curiosity gets the better of her, and she goes to where Dylan lives to wangle some information out of him. She goes round to his house and finds the front door ajar. Entering the house, she sees scattered letters and notes strewn over the floor with the odd piece of clothing. The house looked like it had been ransacked of everything like someone had left in a hurry, then the girl hears a door slam towards the back of the house. Dylan is startled to see her in his house and is surprisingly angry. Looking weaker than usual he ushers her out of the house and slams the door in her face. 
Many weeks pass and no further word is heard from the man. When weeks turn into months, she decides to take matters into her own hands and arrange a meeting as affairs at home steadily worsen as he is not there to advise her. Dylan approaches the girl looking much more frailer than before and carrying a stick to aid his walking. He still seems reluctant to talk after their rather unsavoury meeting weeks before, but Liv tries her best to help him. Dylan admits that his wife left him and of how he still loves her and how he appreciates the girl helping him but there was nothing she could do.  Liv finds this an appropriate time to get a straight answer out of him as to why his wife left him and why he is in this condition. Dylan tells her that he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, that his wife left him to be on her own to clear her head and that the reason he has helped her is to make sure she doesn't make the same mistakes he did at that age by not making something worthy of himself. He tells her she has the potential to do that for him. She understands what the man is saying about his shortened life and swears to him that she will fulfil her ambitions. Liv and Dylan embrace and they both know that this will be the last time that they will see eachother. As they hug he slips an envelope into her pocket. They say goodbye and Liv, feeling the envelope inside her pocket withdraws it. Inside is the money needed to take her to performance school. Liv is happy as she walks away because of the generosity of Dylan and the wisdom he gave her that she needed to persue her next chapter of life.
When she gets home, she then plucks up the courage to tell her parents of her intentions of moving away to study acting. The confidence Dylan has given her has helped her tell her parents what she truly wants whilst maintaining their relationship. A few months later she then leaves her hometown to fulfil her destiny.