The bus dropped him off at the familiar stop and Daniel walked the rest of the way home, silence enveloping him. He no longer had any friends to speak of. All his High School friends had moved or had families. The guys at work were okay, but for the most part Daniel spent his days alone. The sidewalk in which he now walked was empty of pedestrians. Once in a while, a car chugged by him, breaking the silence, jerking him back to reality.
He looked up. The sky was turning dark, just like his thoughts. The sun was going down in all it's glory. Brilliant shades of orange and pink lighted the horizon. There was no brilliant colors on his horizon, he thought dejectedly. The dazzeling sunset that would normally have brought him great joy seemed to be the one thing that pushed him over the edge.
He turned into the apartment building he lived in and turned his key in the deadbold lock. Daniel switched the lights on and threw his keys on the kitchen table with a thud. He picked up the mail that was scattered on the floor from the drop slot in his door. Junk mail. Why did he even bother to look at it, he thought disgustedly. Just as he was about to throw the whole mess in the trash, a letter caught his eye. The handwriting was sickeningly familiar.
Lisa had written him a letter. "Just great," he muttered aloud. "A perfect ending to a perfect day." He sat down slowly staring at the envelope wondering what in the world she was doing writing him after what happened. He tore open the letter with a vengence, renewed anger boiling over inside of him.
Daniel, I feel the need to explain a few things. You have to believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt you.
Never meant to hurt me, he raged inside. I wonder what it was she meant to do? Daniel let that thought hang as he continued to read.
I wish you had never seen what you did. That we could've gone on like we always had. You were the closest thing I ever had to someone really loving me. But, this is me. This is what I do, how I make my living. I don't want to change, not even for you. I know you will never forgive me, so I guess this is goodbye.
It was signed simply, love Lisa.
Daniel let the letter drop to the floor. A heaviness settled on his shoulders like a shroud and a sob escaped his lips. "I can't take this pain anymore. There has to be a way out, some relief from this constant weight inside my soul that seems to drown the life out of me."
In a sudden burst of inspiration, Daniel sprang from the couch and raced to the bathroom medicine cabinet.
"Where are they?" He screamed in desperation. "I know I had some sleeping pills. I have to find them!"
Daniel rummaged through the cabinet mindless of the medicine bottles and pills he was scattering on the bathroom tile.
"Here!" He shouted and dumped the whole bottle of tiny white pills in his hand. He shoved the whole lot into his mouth then in a way only a crazed man can do, ran into the kitchen for water. Daniel gulped down the water then threw the glass against the wall, watching it shatter into broken fragments. He laughed madly at the glass.
"Just like my life!" He shouted. "Broken and over." He dropped to the floor as the many sleeping pills began their deadly work.
And then.....
Daniel was standing in his kitchen. The broken glass still lay where it shattered on the floor. Bewildered, he stook looking around him. A disoriented, eerie feeling enveloped his whole being as he looked down and saw his body lying helpless, in a fetal position on the floor.
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