"You need to eat."

She pushes a plate of food toward him. He stares at it, pushes it back.

"I don't want to."


A girl stands at the gate, looking in. She wants to go inside but she knows she isn't aloud.

She looks to the ground. A single tear rolls down her cheek.


Five miles outside of London a girl stands, frozen, in her kitchen. She drops the phone and looks up, in shock, at her husband.


He's happily laughing with his friends in the restaurant his girlfriend works at. He hasn't heard the news yet.

His cell rings.


There's a commotion inside Gamebusters for the latest Alien Killer 3000 video game. For once he doesn't throw himself into the crowd.

He just stands there and he cries.


The reporter for The Local News Channel is shocked by the new cover story.

He knows this person.


Suddenly the concert she's been planning for weeks with her best friends doesn't sound that appealing anymore.

Instead they all go to her house and comfort her as she cries.


At five o'clock six of the nine former students of Anubis House turn on their TVs and turn to channel five.

Four of the six turn off their TVs before the program's even started.

The other two continue watching.

They owe it to her, they think.


There's a chill in the air as she lays down for the night, knowing her mother's not going to be there to kiss her good night. She's not going to be there to hold her hand and make the monsters go away.

But then, she never did do any of that, anyway.


He accidentally leaves the computer on as he makes his way upstairs. On the screen is an article about a girl who jumped off a bridge and killed herself.

The other is an obituary that was published in the newspaper that morning. "Nina Nicole Martin," It says, "was a beloved friend and acquaintance. She was married for nine years but divorced in 2022. She was the author of three books, including the bestselling novel Standing Here. She committed suicide on May 20, 2023. She will be missed."

The obituary was written by a man named Fabian Rutter.

Two mornings after it had been published, he followed her off the bridge and into the sunrise below.

He felt like he deserved it, anyway.


Okay, so not the best story I've ever written. But... review?

Please?