Story made for a thread of a forum, where stories are posted made in one sitting
“Now what the hell is all this out here?” Ivan said, smiling and walking closer to the figure in front of him. The man turned his head to see his new found audience, faking a sense of lost balance as he adjusted his weight on the railing. Ivan took another deep drag of his rolled cigarette, quietly laughing to himself as he blew it into the air.
“Just leave me alone” the man said, looking towards the night sky. Ivan could hear the desperate whine of his voice, the pathetic immature crackling of a young mind.
“Oh sorry, my little friend! I simply needed a bit of fresh air from the party inside. But now, something has struck my curiosity out here – something a bit more interesting than social gesturing of the gathering inside.” Ivan walked closer to the end of the balcony, placing his hands on the railing a few feet away of the man, leaning over to the see the street below him. Twenty floors separated the two men from the hard concrete below, the busy midnight street.
The man hands shook violently, as he reached them up to rub his eyes. The railing was wide enough to let him stand comfortably, but he seemed drunk enough to easily slip. “Jesus Christ…” he said to himself, looking down once again, imagining the outcome of his decision. He tried to ignore Ivan, or at least seem as if he was.
“Yep, quite the fall you got ahead of you. You could certainly hurt yourself fallen’ like that.” Ivan responded, nodding his head and giving the expression of an idiot in deep thought. The young man looked back to see what sort of person would give such an incredibly stupid response, to see a grinning young man about his age, talking in a pretentious sarcastic tone.
“Just imagine your ragdoll helpless body, falling through the air with increasing speed, limbs flaying wildly as your mind instantly regrets such a decision. The inevitable splat, meat smacking pavement, instant nothingness. A piece of helpless cheese turned into mush”
“What the fuck is wrong you?” The man responded, shocked by the utter lack of empathy.
“What? You don’t wanna hear what will happen to you? You’re hoping for an easy fall then saint fucking peter will be there to guide you to eternal bliss? Well you fucking got a…” Ivan began to mumble and trail off, injecting each word with a large laugh, until finally taking another chug of his drink.
“Just get the fuck away from me”
“Why? So another random party goer can come out here and witness your little display? What is this? A gesture to the gods for the act of your own creation, or some little dramatic play for my amusement?”
The man shook his head, and tried to drown out Ivan’s booming voice in the silent night. Ivan calmly just looked over the city in front of him, until curiosity over took him once again.
“Did ya leave a note? Some last brilliant words from a young philosopher such as yourself?”
“No”
Ivan threw his hands into the air. “Oh this cruel world! Why has love forsaken me so! To be, is it better to be? To not? Oh why not?! Ah sling and arrows… and such and such”
“You’re fucking crazy”
“Ah the metaphysical despair of it all! The whiney lack of meaning, all coming from the bitchy need of being bored and asking why there isn’t something else to fill your mind. Questions of why only come when it hurts. A good time needs no explanation, no reason why. You think those drunken frat boys in there are wondering why? So my young philosopher, what is this despair?”
“What the fuck do you care. Leave me the fuck alone”
“Fine, as you wish”
Ivan shook his head, and began to walk away. After a few steps, he shrugged, placing his drink on the ground beside him, and came back for one last attempt. He couldn’t leave the man like this, Ivan wasn’t that sort of person, this was no joke.
“Look kid… what’s the problem?” he said, only a single foot separating the two. The man stayed silent, as Ivan continued… “I am sorry for not taking you seriously…. You sound like you are feeling abandoned…”
The man turned back, and looked into Ivan’s wide eyes.
“Am I right?” Ivan leaned he head over, gave a smile in an attempt to calm the man.
“She told me it was over”
Ivan sighed, breathing in deeply.
“I know you feel you cannot go on, but things will get better. What you are feeling is temporary. You are young, able, your life will go on. Just looking at you now kid, I know there is hope for you, I can see there will be other women, other love in your life. You just need to hold on. Do you hear me?”
The man began to cry, as turned and sat on the railing facing Ivan. Ivan placed his hands on the man’s shoulders, coming closer to his face.
“I believe in you and that you will get better. There is a light at the end of the tunnel – it’s ok if you don’t see it now.” Ivan embraced him closer, helping him lower to the ground.
“I loved her though”
“I understand. But if she left you, she doesn’t know what she is missing, eh?”
The man smiled, as Ivan began to laugh and joke. “I bet she is missing you now eh? Come on your not a bad catch!” The man laughed, as he hugged Ivan and began to wipe away the tears from his eyes. “So let’s take you back inside alright? Let’s go have a drink.”
“Sure thing man”
Ivan suddenly stopped laughing. He moved his face closer to the kid. “That’s… it?” He said.
Sniff…. “Sorry what?”
“I said… that’s it? That’s all there is? That’s all you needed?”
The man wiped more of his tears, and gave a confused expression to Ivan. “I don’t… know what you …”
“So that’s fucking it! Your great fucking metaphysical despair solved with a bit of human empathy! This giant show and action, all stopped because I told you everything was going to be alright?!? Because I said a bunch of bullshit cliché lines to make you feel a bit better? Did that really change your mind? Did that really make you see the point in life? Well, did it fucking make it all better?”
The man backed away from Ivan. He began to cry loudly, giving a facial expression begging for the empathy Ivan gave before.
“You pathetic piece of shit! Your utter lack of commitment to this fucking disgusts me!”
Ivan grabbed the young man, and using the almost super human strength of someone desperately enraged, threw him off the balcony, to land like a piece of cheese twenty floors below.