Gray's 100-word story for June 17, 2025

Gray wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on June 17, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

The new job was perfect. Then he burnt out and crashed like a jumbo jet the first week. A psychiatrist gave him an autism diagnosis and a therapy referral. The therapist told him he'd been doing something called 'masking' -- acting like a neurotypical by adopting mannerisms and habits that weren't natural in order to blend in, gain social acceptance. Told him if he wanted to heal the depression that stalked him since childhood and learn to cope with anxiety, he had to stop. But if he wanted to keep the job, he had to mask. He did it his way.

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