Sad Short Stories

3

Working for the suicide hotline services, you'd think that you would hear every reason to want to die. You think you'd solve everybody's problems.

Sadly, that's not true.

The phone rang. "Hello?" I asked. All I heard was quiet sobs. "Hello? How may I help you?" More sobs. "Sir? Ma'am? Anyone? I know you're there."

"I-I have it," the person on the other end said. They were male.

"Have what?" I asked, worried.

"The..the.."

"Just say it."

"Rope." The sobs became louder.

"No, no, no. Put it down. Throw it away. I'm here for you. Tell me your problems."

"M-my friends," they said between sobs.

"What about your friends?"

"I have none." A long pause. "And my family."

"What's wrong with your family?" I asked, becoming more worried each second.

"They don't give a care in the whole dang world about me. I could get hit by a truck and they wouldn't care. If my brother steps on a small rock, they start to cry. They'd take him to the dang hospital just to make sure he's ok. If I got stabbed, they'd say 'The pain goes away' and walk away."

"I-I'm sorry to he-"

"What's your name?" They asked.

"M-my name?" I asked them. "I'm Ethan."

"Well, sorry, Ethan. But I have to go, now. Heaven awaits me."

"No, no, no! Stop! No, ple-"

I could hear another voice. "Finally, we can now live in peace." Several chants and claps in the background. "Wait. The phone is on." A short pause. "Who's there?" They asked.

I hung up.

A tear trickled down my cheek. "What's wrong?" I turned my head to the right to see my best friend, Shawn, standing there.

"They killed themselves," I said. "They're dead."

"Who?" Shawn ran over to me, wrapping his arms around me.

"The person. They-they hung themselves and their family was happy. They came in and started clapping."

---

The next day, Shawn didn't come to work. I went to his house after work and he opened the door.

"What happened? You weren't there to-"

"My brother." He looked at me. "You were talking to my brother."