CLICK, CLACK!

*gasp*

Another body was hanging on the ceiling, with palms turning purple, and the beautiful face gone pale.

She had hung herself, at the age of 18.

A senior in high school with all of those fancy-schmancy grades, got accepted into college before ALL OF HER FRIENDS and being Miss Popular in the school, who would even thought that she would put an end to her own life in such a hasty manner like that?

Her parents never thought about it.

Their daughter, taking her own life? "Please, who are you kidding!? She would never do that!" That's what I heard from her parents a month before her death.

Now, she is lying there, in her room, cold and lifeless.

Outside that door was her parents, fighting over her boyfriend, and also, their own self.

She never told them that she had a love interest.

They aren't together for a long time, actually- not until the end of her junior year did she met her significant other for the first time...

The girl was disgusted by her own father, just because she há a boyfriend who comes from the outskirts of the city, when she was from the poshest quarter of the town.

They were forbidden to be together. And now, she decided to leave her home and follow the call of intensive love, just to be greeted with a horrible truth.

Her "faithful and loyal" boyfriend was kissing another person. In front of her face.

And the reason of the sudden change in his "faithfulness" is because he hasn't ever loved her since day 1.

"The only reason I ever wanted you is to destroy the good b---- image that you always have!" The guy screamed at her face, before coldly threw her out to the window.

With nowhere to go, and no reason to live, she sneaked back into her once beloved house.

"I wish I could just die, then people would be better off without me being in it." was her only thought, while she was lying on the bed that holds her best memories.

Her childhood dreams. Her achievements.

Her future intentions.

But it isn't important anymore, she thought to self.

A stool, a rope, a dark, closed off room and a hopeless person.

A small flame from a life has just been blew out...

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

13 minutes has passed, and a life will be stolen from the world,

Not by force, but by self,

And the grief will be told...

AARGH!

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" The voice of a man was audible.

"Our son, honey!...Our son!" A woman shrieked, The scream beforehand was her reaction when she saw her son above a pool of red blood, lying unconsciously on the carpet.

Wasn't he the star quarterback of the school's football team who already break hearts of half of the girls in school?

Sadly, he is. No, he was that person.

Not until he started to think about going to college.

His parents' wishes is to see him success somewhere in New York, as a banker or something that has a connection with money.

But he had a different idea in mind.

A professional football player, for Baylor Uni.

And one other thing that he would not even dare saying to his family: he is actually having a crush towards a guy in his school.

It was an unrequited love, and it hurts seeing him crying silently in his sleep every single day.

He has a reputation to keep, and a future to take. But he don't know what to do.

And he was more than afraid, to ask his friends for help.

He started to go home stinky drunk. On drugs. Going out in gangbangs.

Things he never done before.

The stakes started to get higher and higher, when he skipped school several times and started failing on his studies.

It was all because of his parents' attitude towards his dreams. But oh well, like they would realize that they did it.

The fights got into a larger scale, and he started to become more and more intense. Until the day his mother said to him a sentence that she deeply regretted saying it:

"Go kill yourself, you faggot!"

He wouldn't ever believe in his ears, that his mother knows his deepest, darkest secret.

"How...did you know that?" He looked shocked.

"Oh I know, I know everything about you! I am your goddamn mother for the sake of the Almighty! I know how much you wanted to have a faggot who would protect you from the world. But guess what, sweetie, you're going to hell, along with your homo boy!" She roared on his face, and the only thing he would do is just standing there.

He has to act tough. He has to be strong.

He mustn't cry. He can't shed tears.

He has to be a man.

Be a man.

BE A MAN!

He silently got back to his room after the fight with his parents, and started to break down in a rain of tears.

All of his pain got out, alone and still being tormented by his family.

"Go burn in hell, you sinner!" That one sentence triggers every inner thoughts inside the head of the teenager.

Why does he had to withstand all of these craps right now, when he is already so stressed with everything else?

He lost hope, but he doesn't feel afraid about it.

In fact, he has already felt hopeless about everything for a while, after he realized that the prince of his dreams will never return his feelings.

He wasn't Rapunzel- his once favorite fairytale character, and it's as sure as hell he would never have the ending of Rapunzel.

He'll never have his prince.

And then Rapunzel jumped from her tower, and crashed into the never-ending pit of darkness...

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

1 minute.

Someone fell to the floor, right next to a container of painkillers. Well, they killed their pain. Along with themselves.

"I love you, Mom. Please forgive me..." was his last words.

BOOOM!

2 minutes. That was fast.

A man shot himself in the head. He got fired today. And no one wanted to talk to an unemployed person.

That's sad. Maybe that's the reason why he shot himself after drinking 5 bottles of beer in his tiny apartment.

And why would he have no friends? Such a loner!

People kept on talking mean things about him, without knowing his own story.

He wasn't an American by born. He was actually an immigrant from the other side of the "wall".

And growing up in a Caucasian-dominated, middle-of-nowhere town, he has no choice but to get into an uphill battle, to show everyone that he's nowhere near worthless, unlike what everyone usually said about him.

He was bullied throughout high school. In college, he was considered a nobody.

Going into life with not-a-so-prestigious degree, the thing he had to do every day is to deal with all the prejudices about immigrants from his colleagues and his boss.

He fought bravely for a good 9 months, against all odds, from the pay of $3.25/hour that he had since day 1, while his colleagues was paid with the salary of $6.50/hour.

Or the intimidation that he had to take everyday for just normal issues, that his boss would use it to take away his already low pay.

At the age of 25, he was considered as "a burden" by everyone, for not having a proper job.

His parents. His "friends". His colleagues. His boss.

Everyone tormented him for his background, his job, his status, and every nonsense that may (or may not) related to him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be here anymore..." His final words was written on a note, right before he triggered the gun, with only 1 bullet remaining.

Tick, Tock, Tick,Tock. 3 minutes.

"My god, dear! What have we done?"

"It's alright, dear...Shhh, it's alright..."

4 minutes.

"Aaaargh!" *splash*

"HEEEELPPPPP! HEEEELP! HEL...PPP...."

5 minutes.

"Hey dude, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing..."

*hangs up*

Then he took a last look at the room that he used to wanted to be in so much.

Goodbye, world... I hope my next visit should be better...

A cut was made, and another life was taken away.

6 minutes.

"Dude, really, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Really!" His friend replied.

"Huh, what's wrong? I mean... you look horrible today..." The girl said, then looked at the boy's wrist.

"Show me your wrist." The girl said in a concerned tone.

7 minutes.

"Go to hell and rot there, you unwanted trash!"

"No, no, it's...it's...all right. It was nothing, trust me."

"Yeah right you are! Just show me your wrist!"

"No! No! Please...stop!"

8 minutes.

You are worthless.

Trash.

Nobody.

You won't have friends.

Why are you still alive?

"Who...did this to you?"

"I..."

"WHO DID THIS TO YOU?"
"I CUT MYSELF, ALRIGHT? I FREAKING CUT MYSELF!"

Then the guy started sobbing.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm right here for you.It's alright."

9 minutes.

Why are you still sitting there? Run, run away! Go somewhere and end your miserable life, you dumb person! She's not going to help you- she'll hurt you! You just can't believe in anyone anymore!

Go, jump down somewhere and die!

"He wasn't ever in love with me! And he said that I am a piece of crap for him!"

"Who? Your crush?"

The boy nodded. And the girl sighed a bit.

10 minutes had passed.

Why...Why doesn't the curse of suicide work on him?

Or you know what, that were all lies. They were all LIES!

Please, support? Sympathy? THEY ARE ALL PATHETIC,FAKE WORDS THAT HUMANS USED TO RESIST THE CURSE!

Can't you see it? The world is an ugly place! And you humans don't have enough willpower to survive that!

The only thing that you would ending up is to hurt yourself!

Listen to me! End your time of being in here!

LISTEN TO ME!!!!

11 minutes, and passing...

"...And then, he hit me..." The guy said, through tears and sobs, while the girl comforted him. "...and call me names...then told me to go burn in hell or somewhere..."

"It's all gone now, my friend...You have me now...It's all gone now..."

12 minutes.

"You need help standing up?"

"Yeah...Thanks for being here for me, anyway..."

"No problem. I'm always be here for you."

13 minutes.

Someone survived the curse. Thanks to the remedy- the three magic words: "how are you?"

---*---

The Curse of Suicide is always there to harm someone when they're weak. And every 13 minutes, someone could be its next target.

The next victim could be right beside you. In front of you.

Could be you. Or someone you love so dearly.

A simple "how are you" sometimes could be the strongest remedy against the curse.

Use it.

Don't let your loved ones becoming the next victim of this horrendous curse.

(Excerpt from "Society Curses: Basic Remedies for Times".)

~The End~