The sky was grey that afternoon.
Emily stood on the rooftop of their apartment building, staring down at the tiny world below. Cars looked like toys, people like ants. The wind tugged at her hoodie, but she didn't feel the cold.
Her shoes scraped the edge of the concrete ledge.
"How am I supposed to live like this?" she whispered.
The question hung in the air, heavy and raw.
Every part of her hurt — from the scars burned into her skin, to the slap that still stung her cheek, to the endless silence she faced at home. Vanessa and her friends had stolen her peace. Her parents had thrown away her worth. Her life, once filled with dreams of college and building machines, was now nothing but nightmares.
"What future?" she muttered. "Who's going to give me a chance? How will I ever become an engineer like this… when I can't even survive one more day?"
Her fingers tightened at her sides.
"I can't do this anymore…"
Tears spilled down her face, blurring her vision. Her knees shook, her breath coming in gasps.
She stepped forward, toes barely over the edge.
One step.
Just one step and it would all be over.
The pain. The shame. The loneliness.
A sob broke from her throat. "I'm tired… I'm so tired."
Her hands clenched into fists. Her heart pounded wildly — not from courage, but from fear.
She screamed.
A raw, guttural scream that tore through the silence, rising to the heavens as if someone might hear.
And then — she stumbled back.
Away from the edge. Away from death.
She dropped to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably, her body shaking.
"I can't… I can't…"
She was too scared to jump.
Too scared of what came after. Of the unknown. Of dying without ever fighting back.
As she lay there, curled on the rooftop, something flickered inside her — not strength, not yet. But something close. The smallest spark of refusal.
They had taken so much already.
But she wouldn't let them take her life too.
Not yet.
Not like this.