[ OT ] Sunday Free Write : Leave A Story , Leave A Comment - Sea to Shining Sea Edition !

Hello all, back again for week 10, wow how fun this has been. Hopefully you enjoy this week's story, and as always I'd love to hear your feedback and criticism. And as always, keep writing! 
 
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 * [ RF ] A man jumps from a bridge, hoping to die. During the fall, he realizes he wants to live.REALITY FICTION* 
 
 Inhale. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Exhale. Repeat until feelings pass. John repeated this to himself over and over, like he always did. Calmly, softly, under his breath, not drawing any attention to himself. Except tonight. Tonight he could hear sirens in the distance, wailing over the wind cutting his face and swirling his hair all around his ears and neck. They were obviously coming for him. 
 
 John stood clutching a beam, hair swirling around and playing in the wind, a scene seemingly cropped from a bad action movie. It had been weeks since John had his haircut, weeks since he shaved, and weeks since he brushed his teeth. He just couldn ’ t do it. He had no motivation, no reason to drag himself from his bed, let alone from his house. John ’ s muscles ached, it had been days since he last stood up, and his malnourishment had sapped all his strength, as his body began to consume the muscles supporting his fragile frame. The wind felt extra cold on this night, for John ’ s body no longer had any fat to keep him warm, and the jacket and sweater he was wearing hung loosely off his bony flesh, now a size or two too large. John ’ s feet dangled out over the abyss, perched hundreds of feet above the swirling water below. 
 
 Inhale. One, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Exhale. John had made up his mind, but like a performer, an athlete, a person who felt something would resonate from his action, he was nervous. Just like a musician, walking out onto center stage for the first time, John wanted everything to go perfectly, and just like the musician, he wanted something of an audience, and one who appreciated his performance with the appropriate reaction: stunned silence. Sirens continued to blare, getting closer and louder with each passing second. His audience was en route. 
 
 Vertigo began to set in, and John seriously considered turning back. But he knew that he must stay, and stick with his decision, otherwise it would be worthless. Like me, he thought, before deciding that as a last act of courage, he should stick with what he had previously decided. So John tightened his grip. 
 
 The first police cars began to show up, blocking off all traffic on the bridge, They formed a perimeter and began to talk to John over the megaphone, trying to talk him down from the bridge without emboldening him on his decision to jump. John had prepared for this though, and he yelled back to them, “ Don ’ t try anything or I jump! ” while slowly climbing to a better position over the water below, ready to plunge himself at anytime into the depths. 
 
 Moments later a small squadron of cars had arrived, and numerous news vans were upon the scene, swirling like vultures to the soon-to-be carcass that was John. The full audience had arrived, and some were even streaming it back home. John knew that this was his moment. With a smooth slow motion, practiced hundreds of times both in his mind and in his home, John turned to face the police. 
 
 “ My name is John Zachary Cooper, and I am here to tell you my final words. Tell Alyssa Ignatia that I love her beyond measure, and that every action I take is because of her, including this one. And tell her that I ’ m sorry, and I hope she is happy now, and forever. ” Upon uttering those final words John let go of the support beam and allowed himself to plunge backwards into the darkness, arms spread eagled, to meet the watery grave that lay below. 
 
 Midway through the fall John felt something in his mind and heart. Not the vindication he thought he would feel, but rather regret, the feeling that he was leaving something beyond. John realized then that he truly wanted to live. The feeling persisted as he fell, as he felt the water rushing up to meet him and the sound rushing to drown out anything further he would have to say. “ No! ” he screamed, trying to calm himself in his final moments, to return to the feeling of sadness and vindication that he wished would have come upon him. “ No! ” he yelled again as the water hit his throat and the life left his lungs.
