[ WP ] You look into the wallet of a man you just robbed at gunpoint . You find a suicide note .

How long had it been? Five minutes? Yeah, probably five minutes. Guy can run a long way in five minutes, right? I slow down, first to a jog, then to a walk, then finally to a stop. I lean against the alley's brick wall to catch my breath. I'd done this a hundred times, but this time was different. This time, something was weird. I tried to run through it again, trying to make sense of it. 
 
 I could still see him there, on his knees in the snow. I barely even had my gun drawn when he just gave up, fell to the ground. For just a few beats, I had been so confused I could n't think. People normally panic at this point, they normally start acting a little crazy or begging me not to kill them. He had just stared at me with those empty eyes, then reached into his pocket for his wallet and stretched out his hand to me, waiting. I had taken the wallet, faltered a little. `` Please...'' he whispered to me. I had just turned and ran. Why had he unnerved me so much? 
 
 Oh yeah, the wallet. That was the point of this whole thing, right? Who cares what that guy's deal was? 
 
 I take the wallet out of my jacket, and take off my gloves to get a feel of it. Leather. Good stuff too. I flip it open, and there's just... nothing. No credit cards, empty photo sleeves, nothing. Seriously? Is this a joke? Dude was just messing with me the whole time? No wait, there's another pocket, probably where the cash is, right? 
 
 I reach in and pulled out a piece of paper. Just a little slip, folded in on itself a few times, creased and worn and frayed around the edges. What was this, some old love note? Oh hey, passwords maybe? I unfold it, but the light is so dim. There's a light on right up the alley so I make my way to it to get a good look. It's a note. The handwriting is smooth and deliberate, with one single sentence in the middle of the page. 
 
 `` I want to die.'' 
 
 Wait... what...? I feel dizzy. My heart is racing. I realize I've forgotten to breathe. I just keep seeing it in my head, over and over. `` Please...'' he had said. The alley is spinning. I fall to the ground, crisp cold snow under my hands. Pull it together. Pull it... together... Wait. Wait... I know what I have to do. 
 
 Turns out a guy ca n't run all that far in five minutes, or maybe I underestimate my athletic ability. I had walked back the way I'd come, back to the park. It had n't taken so long at all. The snow was starting to fall again and it glittered in the streetlights. I'm sure there were stars out, but you could never see them through the skyscrapers. I'd seen them once, on a camping trip, the last vacation we took before my dad split and my mom had to get a second job. I'd complained the whole car ride, bitched and moaned while we set up the tent and caught our dinner... but man, when those stars had come out, I'd been speechless. 
 
 There he is. 
 
 He's still just down in the snow, like he was waiting for me. He does n't even look up when my boots crunch up behind him. He does n't even move when I put the gun to his head. I pull the trigger and he just slumps. I watch the snow turn red. It's falling harder now, maybe a real blizzard one of these days. I turn my face up to the sky and I think about stars. 
 

