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Sam was done with it all. Things weren't working out the way she'd wanted, and she'd decided that enough was enough. There was nothing she could do to fix her problems, but there was one way to get out of dealing with them.

"Suicide for breakfast?" the voice behind her said. "Suddenly Cheerios don't sound so bad." She looked over her shoulder at the speaker as he crunched into a spoonful of cereal. Probably Cheerios, considering his comment.

Her teary eyes couldn't focus too well on the guy behind her. He looked pretty non-descript. Black sweatpants and a loose white undershirt covered his thin frame. Blinking a few times, Sam still found nothing overly unusual about the stranger. He was average height, with an average build--not too fat, not too thin, not too muscular--and dirt-brown hair shaggy enough to give the impression that he cut it himself without a mirror whenever it got in the way.

He was leaning against the door to the roof, watching Sam sit on the rail across the roof as he ate. "Don't worry, I won't try to stop you," he said. "It just seems a waste to start the day by killing yourself. You at least had breakfast, right?"

Sam wasn't sure what to make of the guy. He wasn't moving to try to stop her, and he was asking the wrong kind of questions. Don't people usually ask the jumper why they think suicide's the only way, like in the movies?

"Well?" he asked. "You're gawking like you want some of mine, so I'll ask again. Did ... you ... eat?"

"No," Sam said, looking away. Then she looked back at the guy. "I mean, what's the point? If I'm gonna die anyway, it's a waste of food, right?"

"Wrong!" the guy said, sounding like a buzzer. "There's a long-standing tradition that people about to get executed get a last meal. They do that because there's no reason to die hungry. You might as well die with some small satisfaction, and a satisfied stomach is at least that. I mean, I don't wanna die hungry, that's for sure."

Sam shook her head. "You're a weird guy, you know that?"

"That's what they tell me. Mind if I join you over there?" Sam gestured that he could, and the guy came over and sat on the edge.

Sam had decided to jump off the roof because it would at least leave a mess that couldn't be ignored. At least she'd have that. The edge of the building was ringed by a foot wide lip that was about knee-high, with a guard rail separating the lip from the flat roof. Sam had been standing and staring over the edge getting herself ready, but her hand hadn't left the rail behind her.

The guy next to her just sat with his legs hanging over the edge, leaning back against the rail. Eating. Without any worries. And he'd stayed far enough away that he wouldn't be able to reach out and grab Sam to try to stop her. he wasn't even in any position to move to try without giving her ample warning. He just sat and ate, staring out over the city.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said after a little while. "The city, I mean."

Sam looked out over the city. "It's just a city. Cars. People. Roads. How's that beautiful?"

The guy looked up at Sam pityingly. "Well I see why you want to jump."

"Look," Sam said, angrily. "You don't know me. You don't know me at all."

The guy made an indifferent face. "Nope. Can't say that I do," he said, taking another bite of cereal. After he finished chewing, he continued. "What I mean is, look at it all. You don't think it's beautiful?"

"No. I don't," Sam said. "It's just a dumb city."

"You're not looking at it right. Sit down, change the angle a little. The real show's about to begin." She sat as he ate again.

After a few bites, the guy said, "Now look out over the city. The sun's about to come up over the horizon. But that's not here yet, so let's start with what we've got." He started pointing at things as he spoke. "This city isn't even twenty years old yet, so there's not much wear in the buildings, and they're all about the same as far as design goes.

"Even so, though, there's a lot of differences. We have six churches, a cathedral, and a mosque here. Each one is on its own land, and is built looking so different from the rest of the city." Sam found she could see all these buildings from where she was perched. "They stand out, even though the buildings around them are taller than them.

"Most every major building in the city is five or more floors," he continued. "Offices, apartments, stores, restaurants, hotels, everything. Even the school has five floors. The architecture is deliberately uniform. There's a symmetry to the streets that can be appreciated as useful on the ground.

"But up here, there's a pattern that paints a bigger picture. We're fifteen floors up, on the westernmost side of the city-proper, facing east. from here, you can see just about every road that cuts through the city. Sure, people look like ants and cars look like Micro Machines. But it just shows how small they really are.

"Now, the rooftops of some of these places are pretty special, too. A lady keeps a real nice vegetable garden on the roof over there. See how from this angle it blends with the park behind it? That's one of the coolest illusions ever.

"And there's exercise equipment over on that roof there. There's a gym, a salon, and a health food store in that building. It can be awesome watching them work out in the sun. People trying to better themselves, even if just a little."

"Right. You watch them exercise because it looks beautiful," Sam said cynically. "So lots of hot girls, then?"

The guy shrugged. "Sure, I guess. It's a little hard to tell from this far away what gender they are, let alone whether they're hot."

He pointed in another direction, and said, "And there's the college campus, just outside the main city. They say it's one of the best in the country now for academics, and is rising up in sports. But more interesting than that is the fact that there's no roads through the whole campus. No sidewalks. Not even cobbled footpaths. Forty buildings in a Victorian/Neo-Victorian style so it looks almost as old as the stuffy old colleges in the Ivy Leagues.

"And here comes the best part. See the judicial building? The roof's dome is rose quartz, which allows sunlight to filter into the court below. But there's one other effect it has that only a handful of people are up early enough to notice. Watch."

As if on cue, the sun started rising up into the sky. Its rays bathed the city in light, making the grey buildings glisten with gold. And the light that hit the dome bounced off to paint everything around it a swimming pink.

Sam agreed then. The city was beautiful.

"Oh, hey," the guy said. "You're crying again."

"Yes, yes I am. But that's okay."

"Huhn. Well, I'm just about done eating, so I'm gonna head out." He stood up and hopped the rail. "Good luck with ... well, yeah. Bye, I guess." He headed for the door.

"Wait!" Sam called back from where she still sat on the edge.

The guy turned back. "Yeah?"

Sam got quiet, then said, "You never gave me your name."

"You're right, I didn't," the guy said. He turned back for the door, and Sam began to feel disappointed. Then he called, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Bring yourself some breakfast." He shut the door behind him, and was gone.

Sam smiled a little. "Oh well," she said, standing. "I guess killing myself can wait one more sunrise, at least."

Description
Sam was done with it all. Things weren't working out the way she'd wanted, and she'd decided that enough was enough. There was nothing she could do to fix her problems, but there was one way to get out of dealing with them.

"Suicide for breakfast?" the voice behind her said. "Suddenly Cheerios don't sound so bad." She looked over her shoulder at the speaker as he crunched into a spoonful of cereal. Probably Cheerios, considering his comment.

Her teary eyes couldn't focus too well on the guy behind her. He looked pretty non-descript. Black sweatpants and a loose white undershirt covered his thin frame. Blinking a few times, Sam still found nothing overly unusual about the stranger. He was average height, with an average build--not too fat, not too thin, not too muscular--and dirt-brown hair shaggy enough to give the impression that he cut it himself without a mirror whenever it got in the way.

He was leaning against the door to the roof, watching Sam sit on the rail across the roof as he ate. "Don't worry, I won't try to stop you," he said. "It just seems a waste to start the day by killing yourself. You at least had breakfast, right?"

Sam wasn't sure what to make of the guy. He wasn't moving to try to stop her, and he was asking the wrong kind of questions. Don't people usually ask the jumper why they think suicide's the only way, like in the movies?

"Well?" he asked. "You're gawking like you want some of mine, so I'll ask again. Did ... you ... eat?"

"No," Sam said, looking away. Then she looked back at the guy. "I mean, what's the point? If I'm gonna die anyway, it's a waste of food, right?"

"Wrong!" the guy said, sounding like a buzzer. "There's a long-standing tradition that people about to get executed get a last meal. They do that because there's no reason to die hungry. You might as well die with some small satisfaction, and a satisfied stomach is at least that. I mean, I don't wanna die hungry, that's for sure."

Sam shook her head. "You're a weird guy, you know that?"

"That's what they tell me. Mind if I join you over there?" Sam gestured that he could, and the guy came over and sat on the edge.

Sam had decided to jump off the roof because it would at least leave a mess that couldn't be ignored. At least she'd have that. The edge of the building was ringed by a foot wide lip that was about knee-high, with a guard rail separating the lip from the flat roof. Sam had been standing and staring over the edge getting herself ready, but her hand hadn't left the rail behind her.

The guy next to her just sat with his legs hanging over the edge, leaning back against the rail. Eating. Without any worries. And he'd stayed far enough away that he wouldn't be able to reach out and grab Sam to try to stop her. he wasn't even in any position to move to try without giving her ample warning. He just sat and ate, staring out over the city.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said after a little while. "The city, I mean."

Sam looked out over the city. "It's just a city. Cars. People. Roads. How's that beautiful?"

The guy looked up at Sam pityingly. "Well I see why you want to jump."

"Look," Sam said, angrily. "You don't know me. You don't know me at all."

The guy made an indifferent face. "Nope. Can't say that I do," he said, taking another bite of cereal. After he finished chewing, he continued. "What I mean is, look at it all. You don't think it's beautiful?"

"No. I don't," Sam said. "It's just a dumb city."

"You're not looking at it right. Sit down, change the angle a little. The real show's about to begin." She sat as he ate again.

After a few bites, the guy said, "Now look out over the city. The sun's about to come up over the horizon. But that's not here yet, so let's start with what we've got." He started pointing at things as he spoke. "This city isn't even twenty years old yet, so there's not much wear in the buildings, and they're all about the same as far as design goes.

"Even so, though, there's a lot of differences. We have six churches, a cathedral, and a mosque here. Each one is on its own land, and is built looking so different from the rest of the city." Sam found she could see all these buildings from where she was perched. "They stand out, even though the buildings around them are taller than them.

"Most every major building in the city is five or more floors," he continued. "Offices, apartments, stores, restaurants, hotels, everything. Even the school has five floors. The architecture is deliberately uniform. There's a symmetry to the streets that can be appreciated as useful on the ground.

"But up here, there's a pattern that paints a bigger picture. We're fifteen floors up, on the westernmost side of the city-proper, facing east. from here, you can see just about every road that cuts through the city. Sure, people look like ants and cars look like Micro Machines. But it just shows how small they really are.

"Now, the rooftops of some of these places are pretty special, too. A lady keeps a real nice vegetable garden on the roof over there. See how from this angle it blends with the park behind it? That's one of the coolest illusions ever.

"And there's exercise equipment over on that roof there. There's a gym, a salon, and a health food store in that building. It can be awesome watching them work out in the sun. People trying to better themselves, even if just a little."

"Right. You watch them exercise because it looks beautiful," Sam said cynically. "So lots of hot girls, then?"

The guy shrugged. "Sure, I guess. It's a little hard to tell from this far away what gender they are, let alone whether they're hot."

He pointed in another direction, and said, "And there's the college campus, just outside the main city. They say it's one of the best in the country now for academics, and is rising up in sports. But more interesting than that is the fact that there's no roads through the whole campus. No sidewalks. Not even cobbled footpaths. Forty buildings in a Victorian/Neo-Victorian style so it looks almost as old as the stuffy old colleges in the Ivy Leagues.

"And here comes the best part. See the judicial building? The roof's dome is rose quartz, which allows sunlight to filter into the court below. But there's one other effect it has that only a handful of people are up early enough to notice. Watch."

As if on cue, the sun started rising up into the sky. Its rays bathed the city in light, making the grey buildings glisten with gold. And the light that hit the dome bounced off to paint everything around it a swimming pink.

Sam agreed then. The city was beautiful.

"Oh, hey," the guy said. "You're crying again."

"Yes, yes I am. But that's okay."

"Huhn. Well, I'm just about done eating, so I'm gonna head out." He stood up and hopped the rail. "Good luck with ... well, yeah. Bye, I guess." He headed for the door.

"Wait!" Sam called back from where she still sat on the edge.

The guy turned back. "Yeah?"

Sam got quiet, then said, "You never gave me your name."

"You're right, I didn't," the guy said. He turned back for the door, and Sam began to feel disappointed. Then he called, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Bring yourself some breakfast." He shut the door behind him, and was gone.

Sam smiled a little. "Oh well," she said, standing. "I guess killing myself can wait one more sunrise, at least."