It Might Break Your Fall

"Ever thought about jumping?" he asked me.

I didn't answer right away. I took a look across at the building next to ours, the midday sun glinting off the windows and birds circling. I looked down at the street fourteen stories below. "What? Like to kill myself?"

"Why are you always so negative?" he said, following my gaze down to the street and sat down on the ledge. "No, not to kill yourself. Just to jump."

Pondering this I sat down too, my legs dangling over, as I had done so many times before. A crisp wind blew through my hair and I clenched the sides, not scared of falling but not wanting to fall nonetheless. "The fall would kill you," I replied.

"I don't know. It's not that high."

(The concrete is like an eggshell. It's thin, but it might break your fall.)

I looked down again, cars were honking on the street. A bird swooped close by. "We're fourteen stories up."

"So?"

"So we're fourteen stories up."

"Think it would actually kill you?" he asked and leaned back.

"Probably."

The entire roof was covered in gravel. He picked up a stone and tossed it over the edge.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Testing."

"Testing what? You could hit somebody."

"What are the chances of that?" He tossed another rock.

"Fuck okay stop."

"Why?"

"It's stupid. You could hit a car or a person." We looked at each other. He shrugged. We took another peek over the edge and at first we didn't see it. But then, "Oh shit."

Now fourteen stories is high, but it's not that high. You can still easily make out what's going on below. A woman in a blue dress was lying on the sidewalk, not moving. Two men in suits were pointing up at us. One was talking into a cell phone. I saw their mouths moving but the wind carried away what they were yelling up at us. We ducked back behind the ledge and sat in the gravel.

"I feel sick," I said.

"Ever thought about jumping?" he asked again.

I didn't answer right away. Cars were honking on the street.