The wind blew her hair in her face as she stood on the precipice. Her heart thundered in fear. The thought of the pain about to hit her scared her. Even so, she didn't want to jump down the other way. She was done living this life of despair. From this height, there was a high chance she would die from impact alone. And even if that didn't happen, the strong water current would be enough to kill her. Even if the human instinct to survive kicked in, she would not be able to power through the water and pull herself to safety.
"Regret doesn't matter, Davina. Once you've jumped, it'll be too late. Don't be a coward. You've come here. You've climbed up here." Her voice was lost in the breeze.
It was so silent. Even the sound of the river was very soft. It was the perfect night for death.
Her eyes filled her tears as she thought of her lost dreams. She had hoped for so much more. Yearned for a life in the spotlight. To make a name for herself. But years of depression, low self-esteem and lack of drive had killed her spirit. In her mind, she was never going to succeed. She would just drift and drift until an illness or old age caught up to her. The thought of that was terrifying. More terrifying than the daunting drop into the watery abyss below.
She couldn't change her life's trajectory. She didn't even have the heart to try.
"Don't be a coward," she repeated to herself. "For once, commit to your decision. Stop pulling out at the last minute. Stop saying you're going to do things and never do them."
She snapped her eyes open. "I need a clean break. I need a new life. One where I am free from my shackles." Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at the stars.
"God, please just take me away from my mind. Let me be free from my demons! Please!"
Her words came out as a scream. A scream which turned into a screech of horror and exhilaration as she plummeted.
----
On the same night, inside an expensive penthouse on the opposite side of the city, another tortured soul was trying to escape his imprisonment as well. This wasn't a man facing financial hardships. Nor had he lived life not maximizing his potential. He had countless accolades to show for his talent. His life was filled with richness.
Yet, he felt completely empty and utterly wretched!
He was essentially living in a golden cage. From the time that he was a young boy, he had no say in his future. He'd been pushed to stardom by his parents and became the moneymaker who footed the bill for everything. His insatiable and unsensible parents did not care for him. They only sought to live lavishly and spend without inhibition.
He'd been taught to not speak back or refuse any of their orders. Which he had done so. Even when he'd collapsed under the weight of their expectations and been hospitalized.
His mental health took a massive dip and the only one he could vent to was his only friend/manager. But even he could do nothing to help him deal with parasitic parents.
He refused to burden his respectable grandfather with any of his troubles and kept his mouth shut each time he paid the old man a visit.
Only a year ago, he'd finally managed to convince his parents to allow him to take a hiatus in order to recover from his cocaine addiction. Although, it had been the family doctor who'd convinced his parents more so than himself.
Surprisingly, the silence away from the spotlight only heightened his despair. Being clean also made his mind go crazy as the withdrawal effect was getting increasingly difficult to cope with.
Apart from being underweight, sleep deprived and desperately craving his white powder, he was also battling suicidal thoughts on a daily basis.
Which had increased to hourly in the past week.
On top of that, his parents were constantly blasting his phone yelling at him to get his shit together so he could resume his career. AKA, make them more money.
It was unbearable.
Three years ago, he had finally taken control over his finances. And his parents had lashed out at him for it. They felt they were more entitled to manage his earnings than he was.
He had finally told his mother that he was unhappy and she just told him to eat some ice-cream.
He had told his father he couldn't keep up the life of a superstar anymore and he'd just slapped him across the face and told him to do as he was told.
Family matters, son! Doesn't matter what you think or feel! If it doesn't align with the wellbeing and prosperity of our family, then you get rid of those thoughts right away!
His father's statements sounded so strange to him. Wasn't he a part of the family as well? Why did his desires not matter? They kept talking about the good of the family as a whole, but why was he always excluded? Why were his parents standing over there completely happy and stuffed while he was over here hating his life.
He'd mind was made up. He was done. Done pretending to be fine. Done dancing to someone else's tune at the expense of his own peace.
Done being treated like fucking windup toy!
He had already done more than enough for those two. Why should he continue to suffer for their sake when they made it clear with every action and word that they did not care about his feelings?
Having discreetly contacted his private dealer, he purchased a large supply of cocaine. Enough to kill himself.
And that was what he was currently doing. On his knees with a stool in front of him, he was snorting it through nose without stop. He would finish the whole bag if that was what it took.
And if that somehow wasn't enough because of his high tolerance, then he would just toss himself off his balcony. The fall wouldn't be as scary if he was high out of his mind.
But it looked like the cocaine was doing it's job because his chest started to throb like never before and breathing became difficult. Groaning in pain, he curled up on the floor and waited for death to come.
He prayed to God to not save him.