There is a sense of euphoria that often accompanies spring cleaning. A purging of all that is unwanted and unused. It brings a sort of clarity that can only be gained from removing the transient obstacles of possessions and material desires.

For Alister, that was the exact feeling his suicide gave him. He despised the world. It was a terrifying place full of bullies whose only happiness was pointing out just how freakish he was.

For instance, when he kicked the chair away and the rope pulled taught around his neck his last thoughts weren’t about how his loved ones would miss him, nor of his friends at school. His biggest concern, at first, was whether his ceiling fan would hold his weight. It did. That was good. Then another concern gathered in his mind. It was taking an awfully long time to die. It was then that he realized that hanging is not a quick death like in the movies. Without the long drop to break his neck, he just hung there waiting for asphyxiation to take it’s course.

It was a long night.