He sat there alone; the lights dim in his bathroom. The bathtub was filled with warm water, an old razor blade on the edge. The door was shut and the lupine was alone. He slowly stripped away his clothing, piece by piece. Each was folded and set aside in the corner. He kneeled and said a silent prayer to the gods before slipping into the water. He took the razor blade into his right hand and held it up. Then with a sudden swift movement, he slit his left wrist. Quickly he switched hands and made another cut into his right before dropping the blade onto the ledge and leaning back into the waters. A stream of tears was running down his face. Slowly, everything turned black…

Ryan’s mom, Mrs. Winters, wasn’t supposed to be back from work for another two hours. She got a lucky break though and decided to go home and relax. When she got in the lights were out and all was quiet.

‘Ryan must be in his room doing homework or something.’ She thought. ‘Better check on him.’

The room was quiet when Mrs. Winters entered. The lights were off and the air was still, filled with a dread that coursed through everything. There was a faint light coming from the bathroom door to Ryan’s bathroom. Slowly she went over to it and knocked on it three times.

“Honey, are you in there?” Mrs. Winters called through the door.

There was no reply.

“Honey, I’m coming in.” She said.

The door was unlocked and opened easily. The dim lighting was easily adjusted to. What Mrs. Winters saw was the most horrible sight she had ever witnessed. The bathtub was filled with red water. Blood had mixed with the warm water and growing redder. Ryan was sitting against the edge, eyes glazed. He was breathing, slowly and shallowly. She let out a scream and rushed for the phone in his room, quickly dialing 911.

“911 emergency, how may we help you?” A calm voice said.

“My son is bleeding! We need an ambulance!” Mrs. Winters screamed.

“Please calm down, ma’am. How bad is the bleeding?”

“He slit his wrists! Bad! I need an ambulance now!” She was in a panic.

“Please try to calm down. We’ll have one right over. I need your address.”

“My address? It’s umm... damnit… 925 Laurels Street. Please hurry. I don’t want him to die…”

“Please try to stay calm. An ambulance is on its way now.”

“Thank you. Please stay on the line.”

The dispatcher tried to calm down Mrs. Winters while she waited for the ambulance, trying to get more information on the situation. Mrs. Winters never calmed down much, but enough so that she wasn’t panicking. After what seemed like an eternity to her, the paramedics arrived. She rushed downstairs to let them in. They quickly rushed upstairs and brought Ryan out to the ambulance where they then rushed him to the hospital. Mrs. Winters went with the Ambulance, crying the entire time.

It had been weeks since the incident. Ryan had his stitches removed and the scars were slight. Mrs. Winters was extremely quiet around Ryan, who seemed out of it. Finally, a friend came over later in the week. It was Shaul, one of Ryan’s better friends. They went into his room to talk.

“Hey man, how’s it going?” Shaul asked.

“Shitty.” Ryan replied.

“I can see that. Besides that I meant.”

“Could be better.”

“Well, I got two Tool tickets.”

“Say what?!” Ryan said, shocked that anyone could get tickets.

“Yeah. Cost me two hundred bucks apiece but hey, backstage passes. And you said the band rocks.”

“Hell yeah!”

“Wanna come with me?”

“Need you ask?”

“Ok then. It’s next week at 7:30. Think you can make it?”

“Definitely.”

“Aight man. See you in class then.”

“See you.”

Shaul left and Ryan sat on his bed, blinking. Tool was supposed to be sold out and the band only gives out backstage passes. It would have been hell for Shaul to get tickets, let alone backstage passes… Ryan lied down and closed his eyes.

“I wish more people were like Shaul…” Ryan said. “I wish there were less assholes in this world. Less stress, worry, responsibility. I wish things were simpler in life, less complicated, less everything. I wish I didn’t have everyone yelling at me saying I should do this and that, that I should change into something I’m not. I wish I could escape…”