Jude Elliott thought, Man, death is weird. He had heard that at the moment of death your life passes before your eyes. But he didn’t know it meant that you have to live the moment of death itself over and over.
He looked down from the fire escape. Did he have to jump? What if he didn’t jump? Would he still be dead? He didn’t know the rules. Death was weird. He hadn’t expected this, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep doing it, even if he had to.
Maybe this was some kind of cosmic second chance. A test, to see whether you really, really, really wanted to be dead. If you jumped enough times, you got to stay dead.
Jude swung his leg over the railing.
“Hey!” a voice called from below.
Jude looked down and didn’t see the caller.
“Over here,” the voice said. Toward the end of the alley was a man coming out of an open door in the building across the alley. In his hand was a black garbage back with a red tie.
Power tie, Elliott thought, and laughed.
“For Christ’s sake, stop jumping,” the man said. “For my sake, even. Jesus you make a godawful mess. I threw up both times. So stop it, okay?”
Jude said, “It’s a test.”
“What?”
Louder, Jude said, “It’s a test. To see if I really want to go through with it.”
“I don’t think it’s a test, man. The news said it was some kind of worldwide time thing, some kind of hiccup in time. I don’t think this is about you.”
“Just in case,” Jude said, and stepped forward into empty air.
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