by Ron Nicol

Synopsis

A young man is on the roof of a high building, contemplating throwing himself over the edge. A young woman finds him there and initiates a conversation about the consequences of jumping. This leads to a discussion about blood and vampires. They remember aspects of their childhood, and she tells him about watching a child drown. She looks down at people watching from the ground, particularly noticing one man, which prompts an outburst about men treating women as sexual objects.

He explains that fear of examination failure had led him to contemplate jumping, leading her to talk about methods of suicide. She remembers being shut in a cupboard when she was a child and says that she’d contemplated killing herself. She encourages him to stand on the edge and think about jumping. He’s almost induced into doing so but pulls back in time. She says that if they’d made a suicide pact they’d have to jump, and again recalls her childhood, mentioning child abuse.

Duration

Characters

(1m, 1f)

• The Young Man
• The Young Woman