A photo from 12 years ago had a rope mark around his neck

I wasn't going to post this but I keep thinking about it so here we go.

My older brother was genuinely brilliant. Like, scary smart. But he was terrible with people, always getting taken advantage of because he was too earnest, too sincere, couldn't read a room to save his life. When I was in high school, he'd taken a leave of absence from his (very good) university and was just... home. Doing nothing. And then one day he says, out of nowhere, "I want to study art."

Our whole family froze.

He'd always been able to draw, since he was little. But he was supposed to be on the elite track, you know? Good university, stable career, the whole thing. So nobody expected THAT.

Here's the other part. His depression had gotten really bad around then, the not-fitting-in-with-people thing had really worn him down. And some doctor had actually told him that drawing would make his depression WORSE. So he'd stopped. And our parents believed he'd eventually snap out of it and get back on track. So when he said he wanted to go to an overseas art school, they said no.

And he just... retreated further into his room. Every day, a little more gone.

So my mom, desperate, took one of his photos to a fortune teller.

The fortune teller looked at the photo and immediately said: "Let your son do what he wants. Otherwise he might hang himself."

And then she pointed to the area around his neck in the photo.

There was a faint mark there. Like a rope mark.

My mom was horrified. She started doing everything the fortune teller told her. Glass of water as an offering every day. Cleaned the bathroom spotless every single morning. Prayed for him constantly. And she hid that photo deep in a drawer and never showed it to anyone.

Eventually my parents gave in and let him take the entrance exam for the overseas art school.

He got in on the first try.

Twelve years passed. My brother became a painter. Like, actually known. Supports himself just from his art now.

When he got married, my mom finally told me all of this for the first time. And that same night, she pulled out the photo for the first time in twelve years.

She stared at it.

And then she started crying.

The rope mark that had been so visible twelve years ago...

Was completely gone.