A New Problem

Prologue

In a stupor of fear and confusion, he put the end of the gun against his forehead as the soft, slow, and lyrical tones of Miles Davis' trumpet in Blue in Green played extremely loudly in the background. The nosy neighbors, the low rain pouring outside, the cars that passed next to the closed windows of his living room were far away, they didn't exist, nothing existed; only his despondent existence, the stolen gun in between his hands, and the wooden chair he observed in silence. He lost himself when the one thing that gave him life disappeared. He was at the mercy of himself, at the mercy of his power to end his suffering. It was that power which made him take his last bit of strength to end it all for once and for all. The room was exaggeratedly hot, he thought as he breathed out loudly finally sitting on the chair. His hands were slightly shaky, his breath short and weak. His senses needed to readjust themselves to firm land because he couldn't feel the cold metal of the gun with his fingertips; he couldn't feel the torn black dustbin bag spread under the chair to avoid blood spilling on the Axminster white carpet his wife choose two Christmas ago under his bare feet. There is a psychological pleasure in pleasing people, therefore before writing his final words, he made sure to wash the dishes of his last microwaved dinner, hovered all the carpets, and watered all of Vivian's spider plants. She will be happy, he believed, but ignored the consequences of his death to come for her and those around the family. He chose to forget, to please his selfish satisfaction by ending his pain.

Many think when you die, you see a glimpse of the true afterlife two seconds before the total shut down, others that you will be able to see your entire life run through your eyes one last time. In any case, we will never truly know the answer until we find ourselves in that natural situation. Nevertheless, he saw his doing as an act of purity, of liberation; a clean-up for the sake this world in ill state, a world with already enough sad people rooming around.

So he breathed in.

So he breathed out.

Unfortunately for Vivian, her Axminster white carpet will always be stained in red.