The Simple Suicide of Louise Parker (Short story teaser 1)

She slammed the door behind her and walked out of the driveway. She hadn’t taken her keys or phone or her purse. Just a wad of letters, around 4 inches think. Walking at a brisk pace, passing her neighbors, smiled at but not smiling back. No one knew. She ‘just appeared to be walking to the post box’, they would say when asked days later.

The walk to the field was short and flat so the girl was there in less than  5 minutes. Her small black sheer pumps started to fall off her feet, their age beginning to show, so she just took them off and walked barefoot. And then she was there. Standing at the bottom of the bridge with her heart pounding in her chest.

Gently resting a letter on each step as she walked up, she began to think of all the people she was going to leave behind. Jess, Eric, Adam, Phi, Elle and of course her parents. But she had to push them out of her mind, because if she thought about them for too long she might change her mind.

She stood in the damp, derelict, covered over tunnel for around a minute before making her final decision. Resting her left hand on the railing she kicked out the thin paneling and jumped to reach it’s edge. She then pulled herself up onto the top of the tunnel.

At around 7 floors up she could see the track clearly as well as the surrounding buildings. Few people were around and by her calculations non would notice. She dance around for a bit enjoying the time she had left. Hearing the Swan Lake tune in the back of her head she rested right at the edge and waited until the last trumpet segment came in. And then she jumped.

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After the death of Louise Catherine Parker, her friends and family have to come to terms with the unhappiness that lead Louise to her death as well as their own guilt for her death.

Please note that in no way is this short story idea intended to glamorize suicide. The aim of this short story is to imagine the effect a teenager’s suicide can have on a community.