Ten Minutes

“Don’t jump! Please!”

The guy is so startled by the voice that he almost falls down from the edge of the roof to his death. He looks back to see a girl. She has a look of desperation. Whatever she says is not going to change his mind. He wants release. He ignores her and turns back to look down from where he is standing. He could feel the cold breeze against his back, almost as if the universe is trying to push him. He looks down the 10 storied building, is it enough to kill him? It has to be.

“Give me 10 minutes”

What is the girl still doing here? He looks back again only to see her midway with her hand held high. She is brandishing something small and black in her hand. She pushes it into his view and he can see that it’s a mobile. He has to jump fast. She’s going to call someone. He looks down again and sees the Street lamps glowing and casting eerie shadows.

“Go Away! You don’t want to see this.” he says.

“You’re right, I don’t. Look at me”

He doesn’t have the time for this. If this stupid girl wants to look at him dying then so is it. He has made up his mind and he will go through this.

“Look, please! I am not calling anyone! See I have taken out the battery! ”

That caught his attention. He slowly turns his head to see her take out the battery and kick it out of reach.

“For all I know you’ve already called the police and they are on their way. Just go away unless you want to see me jump. ”

“Just listen to me for 10 minutes, please. You don’t even have to get down. Just stay where you are. If the police come you can jump. But they won’t because I haven’t called them. Just listen to me”

“You can’t change my mind you know. I have made up my mind. ”

“I am not trying to talk you out of suicide. I am just asking you to postpone in 10 minutes. ”

“And then you’ll leave?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t call the police?”

“I won’t”

“I can’t trust you”

“You shouldn’t, but as soon as I am gone you can jump. I can’t save you. I am no supergirl. ”

“Okay, you have 10 minutes”

“Wait, can you at least sit down? I don’t want you to lose your balance and fall to your death while I am still here”

And just like that they are sitting on the edge. She is sitting farther away so that she could not reach him but at the same time they can see each other. He can just barely make out her features in the dim roof lights.

“If you are thinking of saying some sh*t about God and hell and sin, save it. I’d rather jump. ”

“Literally”

“Seriously? You gonna joke about this now? ”

“What does it matter, you’ll jump anyway. No wait don’t jump! Okay I’ll be serious! ”

He gives a grunt and asks her to carry on.

There is a gush of cold wind and for a moment they could hear nothing but the howling winds.

She grips the edge tightly and closes her eyes.  She takes a deep breath and looks at him.

“What do you want?” she asks.

“What?!”

“I asked-”

“I heard what you said! But is that it? You on some kind of mission to fulfill a dying man’s wish? If that’s the case, then let me tell you that I want nothing more than release from this world! ”

“Melodramatic much? “She says rolling her eyes.

It must have the look of utter rage on his face that must have done it.  She suddenly becomes serious and says “there is a simple solution to this problem and it’s better than suicide.”

“And what would that be?”

“Leave your world; live in someone else’s world”

“Are you asking me to live vicariously?”

“No I am suggesting you to try living in a world which is different to yours.”

“And how would I do that?”

“Give me 6 months”

“What the-”

” No,  just listen, live for 6 more months,  if you still want to die, I’ll give you the location of an isolated place, hell, I’ll tell you ways to make it look like an accident. What I am saying is how are 6 more months going to hurt you? If you still want to die, you are determined, but if you want to live, I would have saved a life. It’s a win win”

“Whose world would I live in?” He has stopped glancing down now and he looks intently at the girl.

“Mine. ” she says with a smile.

“What makes you think that you can change my intent? It’s only been 20 minutes since I met you and you already made me wanna jump twice. ”

“That way you’ll know for sure that you will still want to commit suicide after 6 months. I am not pretty or anything that you’d fall in love with me. I am definitely not likable. And I get on your nerves, which is kinda like a guarantee that you’ll die sooner or later, either because of suicide or because of bursting a vein. You have nothing to lose. ”

“It’s not very appealing. I don’t want to live anymore. Don’t you get it? I am done. ”

“Look, whatever your problem is, I am not asking. You’ll tell me when you are ready. Maybe it’s love or money or something. But what if you could just disappear from your life. Say you went to the mountains for 6 months or whatever. You can ignore all problems. Forget them. For 6 months live the life you want to. Be yourself. Go wherever you want. No controlling yourself. Do what you want. I am not saying it’s easy. It will be tough at times.  But you can hit the off switch at the end of 6 months or you can face reality. If you still can’t fix it, then I’ll leave you alone”

“10 minutes are over”

“I know” she says looking anywhere but down.

“Is this going to be where you say that you’ll fulfill all my last wishes?”

“No, I am not rich. Even if I were, I don’t think so. I’ll be just taking away all your reasons to live. ”

“Okay”

“Okay?”

“I mean okay, let’s do this.”

He jumps down from the edge they were sitting on, onto the roof. The girl is shocked still for a moment and she lowers her carefully onto the roof and puts as much distance as possible between her and the edge of the roof.

She is relieved that she managed to talk him out of it. She picks up her battery and her phone and switches it on. She could see the guy looking at her with suspicion. She hands over the phone to him.

He looks at her with a confused look.

“Keep the phone with you. If there is a call I need to make or receive, I’ll talk in front of you, and you can check my messages too. This way you won’t always be looking over your shoulder and be alert. ”

“That won’t be necessary -”

“Just take it. It’ll put you at ease and also keep the snooping to the minimum. Don’t worry about hurting my feelings or anything. You don’t know me. I understand. ”

He takes the phone and puts it in his pocket. He does feel at ease.

“So where to?” He asks.

“4th floor.”

“What? You live here? ”

“Did your brain already commit suicide? What the hell would I be doing here in the middle of the night on the roof of an apartment complex I didn’t live in? ”

“You promised a different world. I was expecting a beach house or some isolated cabin in the woods!”

“Tsk. Tsk. You’ve seen far too many movies. ”

“Well how do you expect me deduce that I’ll be living in the same building while you were painting an image of a different world in my mind? I am no Sherlock. ”

“It’s the perspective that changes the world, my dear Watson.”

“You watch too much TV.”

“I do. ” she says with a smile.

As the head down together, he can’t help but think that this is just plain escapism and him running from reality. But he has had enough of reality. A little fantasy won’t hurt.

__END__