The End

"Close your eyes and take a step", she tells herself. "Let the wind carry your body, let go, let nothing and nobody matter." One step, it is all it takes. As she moves into the abyss, she takes in one long breath. The air that moves her lungs moves along the rest of her body now. She can hear it swishing by on her left and her right, it takes away all the pain. Gravity takes control of her body, but her spirit is free, she is floating. Deeper and deeper into the fall that seems to have no end; ah 'end' it is such a dear word. Powerless and numb, there is no sensation, she only breathes. Every worry gone, every problem seems so pointless, every suffering, every disappointment, every last shred of pain, gone. For those precious few seconds, her heart calms down, her mind relaxes, her muscles unwind, her nerves stop bothering her, and there is only the air in her chest and the wind caressing her body. Everything she held important is completely meaningless now, why did she ever care? It doesn’t matter, she has found her salvation.

She opens her eyes and looks down, down into the bottom, that is where her numb body would have been had she taken the step. At the pit, with the rocks, still and calm, liberated and lifeless. Instead she takes a step back and turns around. As she starts to walk she realizes her one true salvation will have to wait. She was at the edge yet again. A part of her has already died today so that the rest of her may live on. She dies, everyday, a little bit, and she waits, for that one fine day when she wouldn’t have to die all the time. As she walks along, a relieved smile flutters along her lips.