"I'm standing in front of a building where earlier today a man appears to have thrown himself from the 20th story of a city apartment building.
"As there were no witnesses we don't have a lot of information however, I can confirm that the man was in his mid forties, was wearing hi-visibility fluorescent ski gear and was a resident of the exclusive city apartment building.
"The first person on the scene was a skateboarder who called emergency services reporting that a skydiver had plummeted to their death in the middle of the central business district.
"Emergency personnel were quick to confirm that this was not the case due to the no-fly status above the city this long weekend whilst the UN security council meets in the city's exhibition centre.
"Roads in this part of the city have been blocked off since early this week, so it is not yet known how long the man was lying on the pavement before his body was discovered.
"Believed to be a prominent blogger, neighbours say the man is reported not to have left his apartment or received visitors in some months.
"The man's only known relative, a sister, is currently on a hiking honeymoon in Peru and can't be reached. The media has been asked to withhold the man's identity until his family can be informed and he can be formally identified.
"Whilst details are sketchy, this appears to have been lonely end to a lonely life.
"Janine Finkelstein, Ten news. Back to you in the studio Michael."
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
- 6 -
Dressed from head to toe in fluorescent ski gear, complete with all sales tags, I looked completely ridiculous, but I was especially warm. Thinking of the dirt and dust that engulfed me as I opened the outside door the evening before, I completed the ensemble by donning some almost matching yellow tinged goggles.
It's funny how you can feel embarrassed about how you look when there is nobody there to see.
The doors opened more easily this time, but the outer door still required a firm shoulder because of the stiff wind and the resettled filth on the other side. Squeezing through, I lodged a large dead potted cumquat in the doorway. I had keys, but being outside was still overwhelming. If I became trapped, I'd definitely lose the plot.
The garden was in ruins. What hadn't died had gone to seed and strangled everything around it. The little path was covered in leaves dirt and weeds. The water tank had overflowed many times leaving permanent puddles and rivulets carved into the dirt and debris.
Standing by the water tank, out of the wind, the absolute silence startled me. What day was it? Probably midweek sometime. At 9am on any weekday I should have heard horns, the murmur of the city, trains, trams and just general living sounds. It was like the city had held its breath.
There was no delaying it any longer. I edged towards the chest high wall. The wall was as sturdy as the building itself, but at that moment it looked flimsy and inadequate. There was no way I could trip and fall over the edge, but the thought of the twenty story drop made me creep towards the edge as though the ground were about to give way.
Summoning every last dribble of strength and will in my body and mind I craned my neck and peered over the edge.
At first everything looked normal. It had been such a long time since I'd bothered to observe the world I'd forgotten what it was supposed to look like.
The streets were there. There were even cars, trams and buses, but it was like a picture, not a first hand view of the world. Forgetting my fear I ran to each corner of the garden.
There was nothing moving in any direction. The feeling that descended, smothering me like too many clothes on a hot day, was isolation. After years of shunning the world, discovering that it wasnt there when i was ready for it was too much to bear.
No wonder my sister didn't answer her phone. The catastrophe unfolded in my mind. It was quick and devastating. So quick the electricity and water were still running. Probably an airborn plague.
There was a strange relief hidden within my panic. It wasn't that nobody wanted to speak to me. Nobody was there.
The wall was low, but the ski gear made it a clumsy climb. This was the only way. I'd seen the zombie movies. There was no point holding out. As I stepped off the edge, I thought about how ridiculous I must have looked. Luckily nobody would see.
It's funny how you can feel embarrassed about how you look when there is nobody there to see.
The doors opened more easily this time, but the outer door still required a firm shoulder because of the stiff wind and the resettled filth on the other side. Squeezing through, I lodged a large dead potted cumquat in the doorway. I had keys, but being outside was still overwhelming. If I became trapped, I'd definitely lose the plot.
The garden was in ruins. What hadn't died had gone to seed and strangled everything around it. The little path was covered in leaves dirt and weeds. The water tank had overflowed many times leaving permanent puddles and rivulets carved into the dirt and debris.
Standing by the water tank, out of the wind, the absolute silence startled me. What day was it? Probably midweek sometime. At 9am on any weekday I should have heard horns, the murmur of the city, trains, trams and just general living sounds. It was like the city had held its breath.
There was no delaying it any longer. I edged towards the chest high wall. The wall was as sturdy as the building itself, but at that moment it looked flimsy and inadequate. There was no way I could trip and fall over the edge, but the thought of the twenty story drop made me creep towards the edge as though the ground were about to give way.
Summoning every last dribble of strength and will in my body and mind I craned my neck and peered over the edge.
At first everything looked normal. It had been such a long time since I'd bothered to observe the world I'd forgotten what it was supposed to look like.
The streets were there. There were even cars, trams and buses, but it was like a picture, not a first hand view of the world. Forgetting my fear I ran to each corner of the garden.
There was nothing moving in any direction. The feeling that descended, smothering me like too many clothes on a hot day, was isolation. After years of shunning the world, discovering that it wasnt there when i was ready for it was too much to bear.
No wonder my sister didn't answer her phone. The catastrophe unfolded in my mind. It was quick and devastating. So quick the electricity and water were still running. Probably an airborn plague.
There was a strange relief hidden within my panic. It wasn't that nobody wanted to speak to me. Nobody was there.
The wall was low, but the ski gear made it a clumsy climb. This was the only way. I'd seen the zombie movies. There was no point holding out. As I stepped off the edge, I thought about how ridiculous I must have looked. Luckily nobody would see.
- 4 -
I started up Skype last night. It was a simple enough gesture mechanically speaking, but I spent an hour picking clothes, having a shower, shaving and doing my hair before I finally brought myself to sit down and get to dialing.
When i finally sat down, for the first time since I could remember, there wasn't a single person in my address book available to talk.
My first thought was that the network was down, so I called the test number and was rewarded with the cheery confirmation that nobody i know wanted to talk. This in itself is pretty odd, as I've reviewed a pile of best-selling phones both mobile and fixed line that have an "always on" feature fully integrated with Skype.
I clicked on a few offline avatars, including my sister's, to see if people were just hiding their status, but they really were offline.
I decided to go for the next best and recorded a quick video message to my sister then to a couple of random friends. It was only moments after clicking "send" that I started checking for replies. Each moment that went by I felt my heart quicken.
How long has it actually been since I spoke with someone. Easily a few months. But how long has it been since I received an email from an actual person, not a mailing list, rss feed, out of office etc.
A long time. A quick check through my inbox gave me a date over four weeks ago. I must be pretty detached from my fellow humans to have let that much time slip by. Now that I'm desperate I can't raise a family member, let alone a (long ignored) friend. I'll have some making up to do once people are talking to me.
When i finally sat down, for the first time since I could remember, there wasn't a single person in my address book available to talk.
My first thought was that the network was down, so I called the test number and was rewarded with the cheery confirmation that nobody i know wanted to talk. This in itself is pretty odd, as I've reviewed a pile of best-selling phones both mobile and fixed line that have an "always on" feature fully integrated with Skype.
I clicked on a few offline avatars, including my sister's, to see if people were just hiding their status, but they really were offline.
I decided to go for the next best and recorded a quick video message to my sister then to a couple of random friends. It was only moments after clicking "send" that I started checking for replies. Each moment that went by I felt my heart quicken.
How long has it actually been since I spoke with someone. Easily a few months. But how long has it been since I received an email from an actual person, not a mailing list, rss feed, out of office etc.
A long time. A quick check through my inbox gave me a date over four weeks ago. I must be pretty detached from my fellow humans to have let that much time slip by. Now that I'm desperate I can't raise a family member, let alone a (long ignored) friend. I'll have some making up to do once people are talking to me.
- 2 -
I'm pretty sure it has been nearly three thousand days since I stepped foot out of this building. In all that time, for only ten of those days I was without electricity, with a maximum of only two days in a row. Its amazing how efficient even the utility companies can be in the face of competition.
There were also six days, three each time, when I had no water, in fact no plumbing of any kind.
Whilst electricity provides my real lifeline to the world - communication - it was the plumbing that nearly, but not quite, led me to emerge into the world. A toilet that doesn't flush and no shower nearly shattered the shell around my little world. After the second crisis I had a tank installed on my balcony and another in the rooftop garden.
The numbers mean something, because I am coming up to three thousand reviews too, all written and paid for. There's a chance I can write my three thousandth review on my three thousandth day. It won't have meaning for anyone else, but maybe I should treat it with some kind of reverence. It's not like I do birthdays anymore, and if I did, who could I invite? I wore out people's patience years ago, making excuses for every invite. Eventually invites stopped arriving.
There were also six days, three each time, when I had no water, in fact no plumbing of any kind.
Whilst electricity provides my real lifeline to the world - communication - it was the plumbing that nearly, but not quite, led me to emerge into the world. A toilet that doesn't flush and no shower nearly shattered the shell around my little world. After the second crisis I had a tank installed on my balcony and another in the rooftop garden.
The numbers mean something, because I am coming up to three thousand reviews too, all written and paid for. There's a chance I can write my three thousandth review on my three thousandth day. It won't have meaning for anyone else, but maybe I should treat it with some kind of reverence. It's not like I do birthdays anymore, and if I did, who could I invite? I wore out people's patience years ago, making excuses for every invite. Eventually invites stopped arriving.
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