She stood on the edge of the cliff, wondering, wondering what would happen if she took that small step forward. Would her mother cope? Would her father care? And her brothers… It wrenched at her heart to think of leaving them, but she was suffocating, being slowly and painfully crushed in this life. And outside the family… When would he find out? How would he feel, what would he do, say? All of these questions, pushing down on her like a deadweight. She knew that she could not continue to cope. "I'm NOT coping anymore," she thought to herself.

She sat down, legs dangling down over the edge, hair blowing in the breeze and tears began to trail down her pale, uncertain face. This wasn't fair. Why couldn't she just commit this one selfish act without the feeling of guilt tumbling down upon her. It would break her mother, and her brothers. But not doing it was eventually going to break her. She wept, sobs dissipating into the cold, misty night air. She wished for numbness, to not feel ever again. Would they hate her for it? For taking the path which would have such drastic consequences on the people she loved.

Slowly she got up, and turned back towards home, feeling the damp air sinking into her clothes and skin, the breeze gently wiping the tears on her face away, like the tenderest of mother's hands. She took her time getting home, walking along the edge and hearing the lapping of the sea far below. She longed for it, wished she could leap down and let it envelop her body in her last moments, as she lay, broken on the sand. But still she was held back, by that small voice in her head. The voice of love. And the small, uncertain fear that was burrowing into her mind. She did not want to leave her mother, brothers, and HIM, just this life and nearly everything else in it.

She sat down once again, unable to go on. The cliff was much smaller here, the drop merely ten feet. She lowered herself over the edge, and dropped heavily on the sand. Oblivious all of a sudden to the cold, she lay there, her hand sifting through the light soft sand. The sea was receding back down the beach; the tide had turned…

He found her like that in the morning. Her cold form appeared to be sleeping. He gently lifted the small girl and held her to him, and he wept more than he had ever wept before. Eventually he was discovered and an ambulance and the police were called, but it was hours too late. Her wish for numbness had been granted, but as she looked down on the people she loved she bitterly wished she could have held them one last time….