Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes

Chapter 1

Four Years Ago

Just one step and it would all be over. Alan teetered on the ledge of the fifty-story building. The cold wind whipped around him at dangerous speeds harassing his tuxedo jacket’s lapels and short blond hair.

Well, you came here to do it. You came all this way.

Alan looked at the streetlights stretching out in every direction; at the trim landscape so far below him. He swayed as the power of the wind tried to pull him over the ledge too early. Alan winced as the cold breeze forced itself against his face.

An ache reminded him of his black eye as he squinted. Reaching a hand to his face, Alan felt the tender swollen area around his right eye.

That’s going to leave a mark. It’s going to have to be a closed-casket funeral. What are you talking about? Nobody is going to come to your funeral anyway.

Alan bit his lip at the harsh but true thought, immediately he regretted his action. Pain and fresh blood oozed from his recently spilt lip. Alan grunted to the foreboding night as the discomfort subsided.

The air was cold and dark. Fitting, Alan thought, for this night to be my last... The night he died would be just like the life he lived. He hadn’t asked to be born, but he was. He didn’t want to be depressed and angry all the time, but he was. It seemed as thought he didn’t have too many choices in the world except for this one. He did have the choice to end his own life.

One step; just one jump and it can all be over. No more pills, no more being alone, no more looks of disgust directed your way from kids at school or the adults you know. One step, Alan, come on you can do this.

Alan swayed once again in the wind. Goose bumps prickled at his hands and neck. A shiver ran down his spine. For all the many reasons Alan wanted to jump, there was only one thing holding him back. It was giving in to defeat. Alan hated losing. If he did jump, he knew he would be giving up, on everything.

You tried; you tried it all. This isn’t giving up. This is your last unexplored option. You did everything you could, especially today, and you still ended up looking like a loser. You still ended up alone.

Alan looked down at his fancy clothes. The tuxedo, the boutonnière, the clothes all the cool guys wore in the movies, the clothes that were supposed to make him feel better about himself. They hadn’t.

For a moment, Alan wondered how irritated the tuxedo rental store would be that he had died and ruined one of their suits. Then he wondered if they could, would they salvage the suit and re-rent it.

Alan shook his head as he inched closer to the edge of the building. Looking down made his head swim. The ground below him zoomed in and out like a high-powered camera lens trying to focus.

It’s not giving up. How can it be after today? You tried everything. You’ll always be a loser; you’ll always be angry and depressed. This has to be the way—doesn’t it?

As Alan once again debated whether or not he should take his life, the wind made the final decision for him. A violent gust came up behind him and before Alan could step back or try to regain his balance, it pushed him over the edge. Buildings all around him rushed by as he headed face first to the unforgiving cement floor below.

It was then that Alan knew he wanted to live. It was too late now but he knew that this was giving up. This was the easy way out. In that moment, as the earth rushed to meet him, he knew he wanted to see the next day. A burning desire heated him from the inside out, a desire that told him to survive.

The ground came closer and closer, only seconds away from embracing him. Alan’s life didn’t rush before his eyes in his final moments the way everyone says it does. Instead, the just events from that specific day did.