Anything that isn't this

the long version

Seventeen-year-old Frank Palp lives in a grim little apartment, in a grim little building, in an exceedingly grim (and rather large) city. Cobbled streets and near-destroyed bridges and war-damaged houses stand alongside post-war, characterless, concrete hutches. Frank generally hates his life and the idiots he's surrounded by, and yet he is in love. A love so pure and sparkling and colourful, Frank feels sure it is 'meant to be'. He believes his love is a reward for all the terrible grey that he is surrounded by - which would be great, if only the girl in question knew he existed. And then one day he finds a message, in a bottle. A wish, for 'anything that isn't this.' He believes the girl who wrote this is surely his soul mate-and now he just needs to find her.