Post by TLS on Jan 22, 2022 18:49:45 GMT -5
The lunchtime rush in the business district has slowly begun to return to normal. The line for Chipotle is again out the door, the guys at Sushiritto are wrapping around 200 of their famous rolls per day, even the vegetarian Val's Veg Diner is seeing their business pick up.
The door to Val Veg Diner swings open as a middle aged man in a blue collared shirt and yellow tie walks in.
Val: hey there Jon, I have your order ready here.
Val grabs a bag from the pick up counter and hands it to Jon.
Jon Hill (47, married, 4 teenaged kids) grabs the bag and exits without speaking.
Val: NICE TO SEE YOU TO JON! COME AGAIN! (mumbles) miserable jerk.
Jon unwraps his vegan chicken sandwich and throws the wrapper to the ground.
A young woman calls out to him.
Young Woman: Hey that's littering asshole!
Jon flips her off and yells back.
Jon: Shut Up Karen!
The aioli sauce from the vegan chicken drips and splatters all over his shirt, but Jon doesn't seem to give a fuck. He enters the front door of his building his employer (Hill Savings and Loan) is located.
Security Guard: Welcome back Jon, looks like you had a good lunch.
Jon: (Mumbles) Fuck off Lebron.
Jon pushes the up button for the elevator and pushes the button for 27th floor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS is standing on the edge of a roof looking down at the busy streets underneath him. It's a fairly new building, built within the last 10 years.
TLS: Erin Gordon needs a reality check. She's a bad mother. She's trying to prove to her son that it's never too late to pursue her dream, but maybe she needs to teach her son about setting reasonable expectations for one's self. Does your son look up to you? Does he think to himself, "Wow when I grow up I want to be a loser wrestler just like my mom."? Maybe it's time to put these dreams aside and focus on raising your son. You should be making sure he doesn't end up like you- chasing a dream that will never become reality.
The creaking of a metal door can be heard as TLS turns back and steps off the ledge. He sees a man walking to towards him.
TLS: It's okay, I'm not going to jump, I was just enjoying the view from up here.
Jon: What are you doing up here? No one's supposed to be up here? You have to leave.
TLS gives the man a once over, due to the man's appearance, he surmises that he shouldn't be up here either.
TLS: I don't think you should be up here either.
Jon: Look I just came here to clear my mind, and I wanted to be alone. So if you could please just leave?
TLS: You seem like you need someone to talk to. What is the problem?
Jon: Man everyone just needs to leave me the fuck alone. I'm sick of this shit okay. I don't want to talk about it okay? Now can you just go?
TLS sensing something terrible will happen if he leaves this man alone, doesn't budge and goes to place his hand on the man's shoulder.
TLS: Look man, whatever it is, you'll get through it. Did you come up here planning to do some harm to yourself?
Jon takes deep breaths and then lets out a big sigh.
Jon: It's all gone to shit man. I lost it all. I lost our life savings. I just can't tell my wife and kids, I just can't.
TLS leads the man away from the ledge and back to the door.
TLS: You can get it back. What did you do lose it all in Vegas ?
Jon: No. It was that fucking DogeCoin. I pulled out all my money and bought it at 40 cents. Everyone was saying how it would go up to 1 dollar so I went all in. Now it's at 12 cents and all my money is gone. It's all fucking gone.
TLS: That was a dumb move. Fuck it, you deserve to die. Go jump of the ledge.
Jon looks a bit confused.
Jon: Wait. What?
TLS: You heard me let's go.
TLS gets gras the man by his arm and walks him over to the ledge, one look down and Jon immediately jumps back.
Jon: It's so high. I didn't realize it was that high.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Little Billy has had a good day. His Mom took him shopping for a new video game, she bought him a lollipop, and now they are going to surprise his dad at his office.
Billy: Dad will be surprised when we show up to his office huh Mom?
Mom: He sure will son. He works so hard that he's barely home.
Billy: Mom. What is that? Why are all these people standing around over there?
Mom: Why Billy, that's the building where your father works. Oh no. What is going on there?
Billy's mom pulls out her cell phone from her purse and begins to dial her husband. It goes straight to voicemail. She leaves a message.
Mom: Jon, honey it's me. Is everything okay at your work? There's a crowd of people gathered around. Please call back.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS: You took too long Jon, now there's a crowd gathered. Soon the fire engines will be here and they'll cast a net. Someone is going to come through that door any moment to talk to you down.
Jon is standing on the ledge looking down at the people.
Jon: this is my problem, I always take too long to make a decision.
TLS: You know who else took too long to make decisions? Erin Gordon.
Jon: The Basketball Player?
TLS: No, not that Aaron Gordon. There's another person named Erin Gordon, and she is a wrestler.
Jon: That's such a weird name for a wrestler.
TLS: She probably took a long time to figure that out as well. But back to my point. Erin Gordon waited too long in her pregnancy to determine whether or not she should abort her son Benson. Once he was born she really didn't know what to do with herself. She was somewhat lost. I guess she had to give up on her dreams of being a professional wrestler to take care of her mentally challenged son.
Jon: I mean that's what any good mom would do.
TLS: But now she's decided that she wants to get back into the business.
Jon: That's silly.
TLS: Anyway she's got a match with me in a couple weeks where we fight on a roof top of a building.
Jon: What if she gets thrown off and dies? Who will take care of her son?
TLS: I don't know. he's probably going to be put in foster care and be bullied for the rest of his life because his mom cared more about chasing fame than taking care of her son.
Jon walks over and leans over the ledge. Firefighters have a net set up to catch him and when they see him peer over, they yell for him to stop while the hundreds of people gathered around are chanting "JUMP!JUMP!JUMP!" Jon takes a step back.
Jon: So this is what will happen then if I jump and I die. I'll just be like Erin Gordon. Selfish. And no one will be there to take care of my wife and my little Billy.
TLS: That's right. Think about little Billy. He needs you.
Jon: Ok. You're right I'm not going to jump.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Val sees the commotion through the glass door of her Veg Diner and heads outside. People are looking up at the top of the building and chanting, she decided to chant along.
Val: JUMP!JUMP!JUMP!
The man quickly peers his head over the ledge and then disappears. The crowd lets out a groan of frustration.
Hipster Woman: FUCKING PUSSY. JUST JUMP.
Tech Geek: Asshole . Wasted my time when I could be playing wordle.
Homeless Man. I hope he has nice shoes.
All of a sudden the crowd lets out a gasp as a body sails over the top of the building and comes down. The net was barely able to hold him, but he may have dislocated his shoulder from the impact.
Little Billy: Mom. Mom! It's Dad. It's Dad!
Mom: JON! JON! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?
The rescuers let him down, then check to see if he is okay.
EMT: Sir, are you okay?
A detective from the Police Department pushes his way through.
Dick: Sir, once they've checked you out, I've got questions for you.
Jon looks up and points to the top of the building.
Jon: There was a crazy man up there. He acted as if he was talking me out of jumping, then next thing you know he shoved me. He's a psycho.
A voice over the radio comes in.
Voice: We're all clear up here. heading back down.
Dick: There's no one up there.
Jon: There was. You got to believe me. He was talking about Erin Gordon having a retarded child. He was wearing this weird looking mask, like a blind person drew over his face.
Dick: Aaron Gordon the basketball player having a mentally challenged child? That's a fucked up thing to say. I'm taking in the station asshole.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS: it's a long way down. At Access Denied Erin Gordon I hope you drink a lot of red bulls because you will need those wings to help you after I push you little body over the edge. You may not die from the impact but the rats of Detroit will surely have their way with your body. Kiss Benson and tell him that you love him because after Access Denied, he may never see his mom again.
The door to Val Veg Diner swings open as a middle aged man in a blue collared shirt and yellow tie walks in.
Val: hey there Jon, I have your order ready here.
Val grabs a bag from the pick up counter and hands it to Jon.
Jon Hill (47, married, 4 teenaged kids) grabs the bag and exits without speaking.
Val: NICE TO SEE YOU TO JON! COME AGAIN! (mumbles) miserable jerk.
Jon unwraps his vegan chicken sandwich and throws the wrapper to the ground.
A young woman calls out to him.
Young Woman: Hey that's littering asshole!
Jon flips her off and yells back.
Jon: Shut Up Karen!
The aioli sauce from the vegan chicken drips and splatters all over his shirt, but Jon doesn't seem to give a fuck. He enters the front door of his building his employer (Hill Savings and Loan) is located.
Security Guard: Welcome back Jon, looks like you had a good lunch.
Jon: (Mumbles) Fuck off Lebron.
Jon pushes the up button for the elevator and pushes the button for 27th floor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS is standing on the edge of a roof looking down at the busy streets underneath him. It's a fairly new building, built within the last 10 years.
TLS: Erin Gordon needs a reality check. She's a bad mother. She's trying to prove to her son that it's never too late to pursue her dream, but maybe she needs to teach her son about setting reasonable expectations for one's self. Does your son look up to you? Does he think to himself, "Wow when I grow up I want to be a loser wrestler just like my mom."? Maybe it's time to put these dreams aside and focus on raising your son. You should be making sure he doesn't end up like you- chasing a dream that will never become reality.
The creaking of a metal door can be heard as TLS turns back and steps off the ledge. He sees a man walking to towards him.
TLS: It's okay, I'm not going to jump, I was just enjoying the view from up here.
Jon: What are you doing up here? No one's supposed to be up here? You have to leave.
TLS gives the man a once over, due to the man's appearance, he surmises that he shouldn't be up here either.
TLS: I don't think you should be up here either.
Jon: Look I just came here to clear my mind, and I wanted to be alone. So if you could please just leave?
TLS: You seem like you need someone to talk to. What is the problem?
Jon: Man everyone just needs to leave me the fuck alone. I'm sick of this shit okay. I don't want to talk about it okay? Now can you just go?
TLS sensing something terrible will happen if he leaves this man alone, doesn't budge and goes to place his hand on the man's shoulder.
TLS: Look man, whatever it is, you'll get through it. Did you come up here planning to do some harm to yourself?
Jon takes deep breaths and then lets out a big sigh.
Jon: It's all gone to shit man. I lost it all. I lost our life savings. I just can't tell my wife and kids, I just can't.
TLS leads the man away from the ledge and back to the door.
TLS: You can get it back. What did you do lose it all in Vegas ?
Jon: No. It was that fucking DogeCoin. I pulled out all my money and bought it at 40 cents. Everyone was saying how it would go up to 1 dollar so I went all in. Now it's at 12 cents and all my money is gone. It's all fucking gone.
TLS: That was a dumb move. Fuck it, you deserve to die. Go jump of the ledge.
Jon looks a bit confused.
Jon: Wait. What?
TLS: You heard me let's go.
TLS gets gras the man by his arm and walks him over to the ledge, one look down and Jon immediately jumps back.
Jon: It's so high. I didn't realize it was that high.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Little Billy has had a good day. His Mom took him shopping for a new video game, she bought him a lollipop, and now they are going to surprise his dad at his office.
Billy: Dad will be surprised when we show up to his office huh Mom?
Mom: He sure will son. He works so hard that he's barely home.
Billy: Mom. What is that? Why are all these people standing around over there?
Mom: Why Billy, that's the building where your father works. Oh no. What is going on there?
Billy's mom pulls out her cell phone from her purse and begins to dial her husband. It goes straight to voicemail. She leaves a message.
Mom: Jon, honey it's me. Is everything okay at your work? There's a crowd of people gathered around. Please call back.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS: You took too long Jon, now there's a crowd gathered. Soon the fire engines will be here and they'll cast a net. Someone is going to come through that door any moment to talk to you down.
Jon is standing on the ledge looking down at the people.
Jon: this is my problem, I always take too long to make a decision.
TLS: You know who else took too long to make decisions? Erin Gordon.
Jon: The Basketball Player?
TLS: No, not that Aaron Gordon. There's another person named Erin Gordon, and she is a wrestler.
Jon: That's such a weird name for a wrestler.
TLS: She probably took a long time to figure that out as well. But back to my point. Erin Gordon waited too long in her pregnancy to determine whether or not she should abort her son Benson. Once he was born she really didn't know what to do with herself. She was somewhat lost. I guess she had to give up on her dreams of being a professional wrestler to take care of her mentally challenged son.
Jon: I mean that's what any good mom would do.
TLS: But now she's decided that she wants to get back into the business.
Jon: That's silly.
TLS: Anyway she's got a match with me in a couple weeks where we fight on a roof top of a building.
Jon: What if she gets thrown off and dies? Who will take care of her son?
TLS: I don't know. he's probably going to be put in foster care and be bullied for the rest of his life because his mom cared more about chasing fame than taking care of her son.
Jon walks over and leans over the ledge. Firefighters have a net set up to catch him and when they see him peer over, they yell for him to stop while the hundreds of people gathered around are chanting "JUMP!JUMP!JUMP!" Jon takes a step back.
Jon: So this is what will happen then if I jump and I die. I'll just be like Erin Gordon. Selfish. And no one will be there to take care of my wife and my little Billy.
TLS: That's right. Think about little Billy. He needs you.
Jon: Ok. You're right I'm not going to jump.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Val sees the commotion through the glass door of her Veg Diner and heads outside. People are looking up at the top of the building and chanting, she decided to chant along.
Val: JUMP!JUMP!JUMP!
The man quickly peers his head over the ledge and then disappears. The crowd lets out a groan of frustration.
Hipster Woman: FUCKING PUSSY. JUST JUMP.
Tech Geek: Asshole . Wasted my time when I could be playing wordle.
Homeless Man. I hope he has nice shoes.
All of a sudden the crowd lets out a gasp as a body sails over the top of the building and comes down. The net was barely able to hold him, but he may have dislocated his shoulder from the impact.
Little Billy: Mom. Mom! It's Dad. It's Dad!
Mom: JON! JON! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?
The rescuers let him down, then check to see if he is okay.
EMT: Sir, are you okay?
A detective from the Police Department pushes his way through.
Dick: Sir, once they've checked you out, I've got questions for you.
Jon looks up and points to the top of the building.
Jon: There was a crazy man up there. He acted as if he was talking me out of jumping, then next thing you know he shoved me. He's a psycho.
A voice over the radio comes in.
Voice: We're all clear up here. heading back down.
Dick: There's no one up there.
Jon: There was. You got to believe me. He was talking about Erin Gordon having a retarded child. He was wearing this weird looking mask, like a blind person drew over his face.
Dick: Aaron Gordon the basketball player having a mentally challenged child? That's a fucked up thing to say. I'm taking in the station asshole.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TLS: it's a long way down. At Access Denied Erin Gordon I hope you drink a lot of red bulls because you will need those wings to help you after I push you little body over the edge. You may not die from the impact but the rats of Detroit will surely have their way with your body. Kiss Benson and tell him that you love him because after Access Denied, he may never see his mom again.