I really like this, especially your dialogue. The flow is nice, and it was interesting how you included the potential romance, but John still had a happy-ish ending by making up with Carl. It leaves a nice sense that everything will work out for them, even if it’s not what they expect. Thanks for sharing your ending 😄
It's so nice to hear you liked the dialogue, thank you. I thought about trying to cut it down to fit inside the word limit but couldn't bring myself to axe all those little bits (that sound so violent!).