#5 : Save A Life – A Short Story By BiboZ

The sun had been up for a while. It was past 9 o’clock. Nagpal lives in the countryside, in the middle of summer, in a manor-like building with several apartments surrounded by greenery. Few neighbors live in this building. It really is a peaceful, quiet place. Sunlight streamed through an uncurtained window. Forty-six-year-old Nagpal opened his eyes. He was lying on a mattress on the floor. The blankets were upside down. Unlike the night before, Nagpal had had no nightmares. He had slept soundly. He rubbed his eyes a little. He was pretty well rested. He’d got his hours of sleep back. But why bother? It no longer mattered. Nagpal straightened up and looked around. He reoriented himself in the room and became aware of everything around him. He looked out of the window without getting up. This is it!” he said to himself. This is it: it’s D-Day!” He stood up and realized that his lower back was killing him. He walked like an old man. He put his hands on his hips and made circular movements, a sort of belly dance to relieve his back pain.

He walked over to the window. He looked at the scenery, smiled bitterly and said to himself, “Great time to commit suicide! He sighed. “This time, it’s done: it’s D-Day!” he repeated. This day has arrived.” 

Nagpal left the room without putting on his slippers. In fact, he hadn’t even put on his pyjamas. Why bother? He’d slept in the clothes he’d worn the night before. And it wasn’t the first time this had happened to him. He walked towards the bathroom. He could already see himself urinating standing up and getting it all over the place without bothering to clean up… but he didn’t. Instead, he sat down. Yet he no longer had to worry about bladder cancer. He’d never have to worry again. He’d never have to feel anything again. Not in this body, anyway. He sat down, took his big morning pee, didn’t wipe, put his briefs and pants back on and looked at himself in the mirror. Surprisingly, he found himself handsome. 

“Curious!” he said to himself. I could at least have found myself ugly today. Wouldn’t that have made more sense?” He headed for his living room. He bumped his little toe against a coffee table. His breath caught, pain gripping his gut. 

“Shit!!!” he screamed. Shit!” He remembered that he’d been told to breathe deeply when this happened, that the pain would pass more quickly that way. He took a few deep breaths, breathed in through his nose, out through his mouth, closed his eyes… and indeed, the pain went away faster than usual. 

There! he thought. That’s the kind of thing that has to happen today. It’s a little more logical than the sun shining after it rained the whole day before, and a face in the mirror that I think is beautiful. If you think you’re beautiful on the day you die, isn’t that a bit ironic? And to think I’m in pretty good health compared to what I could have. Is it logical to die in good health? Is it normal? Personally, it seems surreal to me.

Nagpal looked at his little toe. There was just some redness and a tiny bit of skin that had come off. Really nothing serious and nothing broken, once again. It wasn’t even bleeding. He put some water on the stove to make himself an instant coffee. He also put two slices of square bread in the toaster to make himself some toast. Toast that had given him a tummy ache from eating too much of it. Nagpal often made sandwiches. He overdid it and, as a result, didn’t eat very healthily. Once again, what was the point? It would all be over soon anyway.

The water heated up quickly. Steam rose from the kettle. He poured himself water with a spoonful of coffee, milk and sugar. “These last little pleasures!” he smiled. He wondered if it was worth feeding himself on this day. He wondered what was really worth doing today. 

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