Summer 2018 Story 2

Patrick tugs at the straps of his over-sized backpack and hunches forward as he walks up the stairs to the Humanities building. He double and triple checks the sign in front of the building to make sure it matches the schedule he had saved on the lock screen of his cellphone. After a deep breath, he begins to pull the large glass door open when what looked like a group of rowdy seniors nearly knocked him over sending his phone flying into the bushes nearby. He scrambles into the bushes looking for it and by the time he picks it up, his hair is tousled, his jeans ripped and dirty, and he was probably going to be late for his first Intro to Philosophy class. He runs in hoping to catch the elevator but is stopped in his tracks upon seeing the large flock of students waiting for it. He opts for tackling the four flights of stairs separating him from his academic future.

Out of breath at the top of the stairs, Patrick checks his phone again to make sure he finds the right classroom and attempts to collect himself as he attempted to restrain his impulse to run. "I don't want to be that freshman. At this rate I will never make it into the cool group," he thought. Reaching the door, he realized that it was locked and he had to knock to be allowed in. What he intended as a soft polite knock ended up a frantic pounding until Professor Geinz grudgingly opened the door, if only to make the noise stop. "Oh, you must be the empty seat. Quickly, we're on page 3 of the syllabus." 

Red in the face, his mouth forming silent words, Patrick furtively looked around the room and shuffled to his seat right in the front of the class. Unsure where the syllabus was, he did not feel he had the right to ask. Mustering up the courage after a few minutes, he raises his hand timidly only to be startled by the piercing wail of the fire alarm blaring through the building. Everyone hurriedly grabbed their belongings and stampeded toward the door, leaving Patrick paralyzed in his seat. This was not the best start to life as a college student.

Patrick took a deep breath and mustered the energy to tie his shoelaces. With tied shoelaces, he knew that at least he wouldn't trip on his way out the door. With the smell of victory, Patrick walked tentatively towards the stairs, but the stairs were missing! He frantically turned around and darted towards the other end of the hall. Suddenly, smoke was billowing towards him. Forced to make a sudden decision, Patrick jumped out the nearest window, dropping his cell phone again.

As he landed in the bushes, Patrick found the crumpled body of Professor Geinz who had jumped out before him. He got up and pulled his lifeless professor to the ground. Checking for a pulse and feeling none, he began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Within moments, the professor's heart began beating. Professor Geinz opened his eyes while gasping for breath, he said, "Why did you save me? I wanted to die!"  

Patrick was stunned at the professor's words. He didn't know how to respond, so he pretended to search for his cell phone in the bushes. 

The professor lamented, "My wife just left me, and my kids don't want me as their father." My life is over."

Patrick then remembered a quote that he had read online, and he looked into the professor's soul and said: "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." "I want you to live, professor."