Samuel thought to himself after seeing the inkwell prompt: “I never dreamt of writing about suicide”, he soliloquized. “But there is this recent news on a lady that committed suicide; she’s a mother to a kid that went viral, and this should align”, he added, scrubbing the back of his head as he looks over his balcony.
Looking at the recent rampancy of suicides and failed attempts by some individuals in Tanke Town, Samuel decided he had to write about it. “I believe several people might be dreaming about the same thing, which is why I think I should write on this topic”, he soliloquized again. “I’ll let my imagination run as wild as it can, but all the pieces will be within the confines of the discussion—suicide!”, he loudly announced to himself. He had forgotten that he wasn’t the only one in his apartment. “Will you turn down the volume of your thinking speaker, please?”, a baritone voice called at Samuel, and he was shocked as he was lost in his thoughts for a moment.
His very close friend, Hammed, had crashed at his place the night before. Hammed came for a medical exam in a neighboring town; he had already written his exams the previous day. For old times’ sake, he decided to visit Samuel, who was his close friend at the university. During their undergraduate days, they always had a way of making jokes that most people found amusing yet scary!
“So, what if I decide to die today? What are the things I should consider?”, Samuel asked. As he tried to invite Hammed to share his thoughts, “Well, we have heard several stories of people who died, and besides, the 1000 ways to die media clips are available for starters”, Hammed replied with a devious grin on his face. Samuel smiled but ignored Hammed’s sarcastic response. He is bent on following his line of thought. “So, if I choose to commit suicide, what kind of pain will I go through? Aside from the pain I’ll cause myself, what will be the effect on my family and friends?”, he asked.
Hammed again replied with mockery, “all these are common questions; let’s skip that and go to what happens on the other side. At least we know you can dream and imagine things here; can you do that on the other side?” Although Hammed was taking the conversation as a joke, Samuel, as always (even right from the university days), still tried forming the serious one.
“If there is one thing I hate, it is not having control or a choice in situations. In my imagination, I believe going to the great beyond will restrict my willpower. On the other side of life, I don’t think there will be Hive where I can share my thoughts; talk less about writing for the Inkwell prompt or any other community!”, Samuel said. As he completed his thoughts in words, Hammed gave him the “you selfish brat” look.
“You like thinking highly of yourself, you bread-brained boy. A maximum of two weeks and you are forgotten; I write on Hive too, and new members show up almost every day; we won’t miss you at all”, Hammed said. “Thank you; it takes a flour-brained fellow to recognize a bread-brained guy”, Samuel replied.
“So what you are saying is that I’ll get to face all the problems of the unknown if I choose to commit suicide, and I’ll leave certainty and willpower for uncertainty?” he rhetorically added. But Hammed was bent on seeing the conversation to the end, just like the undergraduate days. "No, brother, I mean you will die and rest in unrest”, he replied. Samuel couldn’t hold himself together; he burst into laughter. “Hammed, we still got it man! Just like old days!”, Samuel said. Hammed gave Samuel a hug in agreement: “No one does it better, even without any class audience; see how we killed it!”
After the handshake, Hammed tapped Samuel on the shoulder “when u wan die for real?”, he asked, and he took to his heels. Samuel got the joke and threw a paper at him “we die together”, he replied.
After Hammed left, Samuel started working on penning his thoughts on suicide. Although his soliloquoy, which led to a chat with his friend, was a funny session, he was still able to derive some points for his writeup. He concluded his write-up with the resolve that it is better to get help than commit suicide.