Death Dancer

Chapter Eight

Though the excitement of Jumping places had yet to abate, I decided that keeping a low profile was in order. In the rush and thrill of it all, I knew there was a chance I would jump into the middle of a sea of people all watching and waiting with their phones poised for the latest internet sensation.

I was determined not to be it, so instead I had chosen the method of transportation that every single other human being on this planet had chosen too. At least that is what it seemed like, as I was squished up against a stranger and the door or the subway train.

I breathed a sigh of relief as fresh air smacked my face as I tumbled from the carriage and onto a platform. I wasn't entirely sure where I was, or where I was heading. Today was an exploration day.

I straitened myself, my spine aching from being hunched over, and pulled my cardigan out of my bag, I had had no use for it in the metal can of an oven. I leaned against the cool brick of the underground station and watched, as people appeared and dissipated as though in a swarm.

A man in a suit, holding a briefcase caught my eye, not because he was dressed smartly, but because he was not boarding the train. Like her, he was stood, watching the people come and go and the trains race by. His shoes were scuffed, hair dishevelled, but slicked back with gel to try and tame it. His skin looked sallow, his eyes tired and weary.

A train came to a standstill, and I watched as his gaze found a young family, the parents smiling happily as they each clutched the hand of a young girl, who in turn skipped off the train, her pigtails bouncing along with her.

The man's eyes teared up, and he took a deep breath, turning back to the now empty rails, staring out to the round, black hole which the trains appeared out of as if by magic. But there was nothing magic about this situation.

I rubbed my heart, wondering if the power that had been bestowed upon me was not working for some reason. I felt no pull, no need to Jump. And yet here in front of me was a man suffering in silence, his shoulders slumped, defeated by the world, eyes gazing into the darkness as if waiting for sweet relief.

Even without the pull, I knew I needed to do something, say something.

We stood next to each other in silence for a little while, before I noticed something clutched in his hands. A small pink rabbit, its ear nearly gnawed off, hanging from between his fingers.

I chuckled, and pointed down at it, hoping to connect with him, make him see that he could talk to me. "That's one cute rabbit, your kid must love it!"

The man looked down, tears welling in his eyes. "It's her favourite."

I reached over and squeezed his arm lightly, bringing his eyes up to me.

"I'm sorry, is she OK?" I asked, he had said It is her favourite, not was. At least that meant his little girl was alive.

"No."

A train pulled up into the station and as though I had woken him from a trance, he pulled his bag higher onto his shoulder, and together we walked onto the train, the carriage was nearly empty.

"She is only four, and the brightest star in the whole universe. So happy. It's just me and her, her mom left when she was two. Carrie. That's my little girls name. Cancer. A brain disorder, no one knows what is wrong. We get the next results tomorrow. I try to work, my boss doesn't really understand. So I work really late for three days so I can come home early today and spend a long weekend with her. She's the only thing keeping me on this earth, fighting. It is her birthday next week, and it's as though she knows I can't afford to get her a present. She has only asked for a small teddy bear, to give rabbit a friend." The words spilled from his mouth in a torrent of built up emotions finally finding their relief.