The chime of a cash register echoed through an empty café, followed by the buzz of printing receipts.

A middle-aged man glanced at the totals, carefully marking them in a logbook with neat handwriting. That done, he placed the book in a drawer behind the front counter before muttering, “Another long day.” Stretching, he glanced out the front window of the café.

The sky’s bright blue had faded into a deep orange, changing with the setting sun. Outside, pedestrians walked along the sidewalk while cars drove past on the street. A few people peered through the window but, seeing the closed sign on the door, they shook their head and left.

Biting back a yawn, the middle-aged man pulled out his phone from his jeans. The bulky case barely fit in his right hand, but he managed to get his thumb around the thing and swiped the screen to check the time. “Six already, huh?” It was later than he thought.

It was Friday, the end of the café’s business week, so there was a lot of cleaning and organizing to be done before it closed for the weekend.

“Looks like I took longer than I expected.” He shook his head and checked his messages. 

There was a recent one to his parents wishing them a happy anniversary and then another one to his younger brother to congratulate his graduation from Harvard. Past those, there were logs of other messages sent weeks, months, and even years ago. But…

“Still no response,” the man muttered.

It was pretty much what he expected. After all, they had such high hopes for him, and now…

The man sighed and slipped his phone back into his pocket. That done, he wiped his hands down against his jeans and then took out his keys, heading towards the café’s entrance.

The glass door reflected the man’s image as he passed.

Seeing that, the man paused for a moment.

The person standing there was undoubtedly handsome, once upon a time. However, time had taken its toll, turning his blonde hair into a steely gray. Crow’s feet were etched at the corners of his blue eyes and a perpetual frown had left creases in his brow. While his body was still in fairly good shape, filling out the blue denim jeans and plaid dress shirt, he couldn’t hide the slight slouch in his posture and the stiff way he moved about.

The man sighed and then pushed the door open, walking outside. After that, he locked up the café and went on his way, walking down the sidewalk towards his home.

A scenic cityscape and a sprawling sidewalk leading from that to the suburbs. Along that path, there was a stone bridge overlooking a cliff at least half a mile steep. At the bottom of that cliff, there were trees and a river that coursed through the city.

The man glanced over at the familiar scenery and frowned.

The bridge still had that short guardrail. While the average passerby wouldn’t be falling anytime soon, it was low enough that someone stupid could climb up and jump.

The man shook his head, inwardly cursing the idiot bureaucrats more concerned with funding the new sports stadium than the safety of its people.

Well, there was nothing he could do about it in the first place.

Recognizing that fact, the man stuck his hands into his pockets, strolling along the sidewalk while going over what he had to do over the weekend.

His investments were doing well recently and his financial advisor/lawyer friend was coming over to visit tomorrow. The plan was to go over any upcoming opportunities to invest and determine what to do with his will just in case. Specifically, determining which person would receive his assets.

Since the man had turned thirty five years old, it was about the time to think about those sorts of things. Not to mention that he wanted to have at least something worthwhile to his life in the end.

The wind picked up, sending dried brown leaves scattering with the breeze.

The man sighed and marched along the path, heading towards his home across the bridge. As he did, he noticed something off.

There was a girl standing at the edge of the bridge’s railing. She was on the cusp of womanhood, likely in her later teenage years. Glittering blonde hair, a young and beautiful face. She was even dressed well, wearing a blue skirt and white dress shirt that accentuated her beauty. However, that beauty was marred by a lifeless gaze that stared deep into the valley below.

The man’s eyes widened, recognizing that type of gaze. Before he knew it, he was already running towards her, his hand outstretched.

The girl took a deep breath and then, without hesitation, jumped over the railing.

The man arrived a second too late. His hand grabbed empty air.

Screams echoed as the people nearby noticed the girl’s leap.

But the man ignored them. With just as much resolve as the girl had, he jumped over the railing after her.

She was falling, but in a haphazard flail. Tears streamed from her cheeks, regret marring that face. But it was too late… That was surely what she thought.

Seeing that, the man grit his teeth and then adjusted his body.

The girl spun around in the air. With that, she noticed the man leaping after her and her blue eyes widened.

The man knew what she was thinking. After all, it was a certain death meeting both of them at the bottom of this fall. Even so, it was too late for either of them to take back their decisions.

The harsh sound of the wind blew past.

The man pushed against the air resistance and then focused his gaze on the girl. Since he had taken a proper dive, he was gaining distance, swiftly closing the gap between them.

The girl shook her head, saying something with her lovely pink lips, but whatever she said was whisked away by the wind.

The man reached her.

The ground was fast approaching, along with the trees.

The man hadn’t thought that far ahead. Still, he was determined to protect the girl. So, with tremendous effort, he spun around, stabilizing their fall so that he would hit the trees first.

The girl said something again and struggled, trying to pull free from the man’s grasp.

But he held firm. And then, impact.

Crashing tree branches. Cracking sounds. A girl’s scream.

The man’s consciousness blanked out from the shock and pain. When he came to, he was lying on the ground, staring at the fading orange sky through a hole in the forest canopy.

Almost immediately after, that hole was covered by a girl’s face.

Seeing that, the man was relieved.

She was roughed up. That beautiful face had been scratched and bloodied and her outfit was ripped here and there. Still, seeing that she could move around, her wounds must not have been too bad.

The man tried to get up, but then realized that he couldn’t move.

Seeing that, tears streamed down the girl’s face. “You… Why?” She shook her head and said, “Why did you try to save me?”

The man laughed. Or, he tried to. But what came out instead was a cough and flecks of blood. He frowned and then said, “Why wouldn’t an old man try to save a young person? People like you should be living your life to the fullest, not…” He coughed again and said, “…wasting it.”

The girl was silent, those tears continuing to run down her face.

Seeing that she had nothing to say, the man glanced down at his body. At least, he tried to. But the most he could do was move his eyes. “…Damn.” He glanced at the girl and said, “How bad is it?”

“It’s… You…” The girl bit her lip and averted her gaze.

“So I’m a goner, huh?” He couldn’t feel anything, but he supposed that made sense. Considering how far they fell and what they hit, it was a miracle that both of them were still alive, even if it was only just barely for him.

Sirens echoed in the distance.

Hearing that, the man let out a sigh of relief. “Looks like somebody up there is rational.” He smiled and said, “You won’t have to be stuck down here with this old guy much longer.”

“H-How are you smiling at a time like this?!” The girl shook her head and said, “You’re dying! No, you’re going to die!”

The man coughed and then said, “It’s fine. I haven’t been living for a while now anyway.”

Paycheck by paycheck. Returning to an empty house and remnants of unfulfilled dreams. A list of contacts that he kept but would never associate with him again.

The man smiled and said, “Better to spend it on a promising young person like yourself.”

The girl’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “But… I’m not…”

“Mind telling me why you jumped?”

The girl hesitated.

The man laughed and said, “Come on. You won’t deny an old man’s last request, will you?”

“…You’re not very funny, Mister.”

“I know.” The man sighed. “Being a comedian didn’t work out for me either.”

The girl bit her lip and then started talking. Being tricked at a friend’s graduation party. Waking up the next morning naked and alone. Finding out the worst conclusion the next week after taking a pregnancy test to check. And then being thrown out by her parents on her birthday after she refused to abort the child, saying that it was blameless.

Hearing all of that, the man’s heart went out to the girl and he muttered. “What a scummy situation…”

Tears welled in the girl’s eyes after recalling her story. “I… I didn’t know what to do anymore. I didn’t have anyone, so… So I…”

“So you jumped.”

The girl nodded. “That’s right. I jumped. I jumped… and now… and now you’re going to…!”

“You’re an idiot. No, those guys around you are idiots.”

“H-Huh?” The girl blinked, shocked by the sudden change in tone.

“A girl as pretty as you… It’s still too early to want to become an angel, you know?”

The girl snorted, a messy smile on her face.

Seeing that, the man smiled as well. But he could feel it now. Where his body had just been numb, a faint chill was settling in.

There wasn’t much time left for him.

He didn’t know what kind of miracle or good fortune was keeping him alive long enough to banter like this, but he was certain that there wasn’t much time left.

The sirens were drawing closer. At the same time, in the distance, faint voices could be heard.

Realizing that, the man glanced to his right side and said, “Could you grab my phone for me? It should be in my pocket.”

“A-Ah.” The girl’s blue eyes shifted towards the man’s side. She was hesitant, but then steeled herself and leaned over, out of the man’s view.

He waited, but as expected, he didn’t feel anything.

When the girl came back into view, she held out his phone with slightly bloodied hands. “T-This?”

The man glanced at it and nodded. “Looks like that case paid off. Now, since I’m obviously incapable, mind unlocking it and opening the voice recorder app? Just sliding it should work.”

The girl fumbled with the phone for a bit before handing it over to show the display. “This one?”

“That’s the one. Now, just hit that record button and leave the rest to me.”

The girl nodded and tapped the button, showing the screen to the man again.

Seeing that the app was running and recording, the man smiled. “That’s good. Now, mind telling me your name, Missy?”

“I-It’s Veronica. Veronica Tristan”

“Veronica Tristan… Alright. Then, I’m going to ask you to be witness to this. Afterwards, make a call to the guy named ‘Rob’ in my contacts list and tell him…”

The surroundings dimmed. But it wasn’t because of the setting sun.

The man blinked, forcing himself to focus and said, “Tell him that you’re the one we were going to talk about.”

Veronica seemed confused. Even so, she nodded.

Seeing that, the man hurried and spoke his will.

When he finished, Veronica was in tears again. “You… Why would you do that? I…”

The man sighed.

It was dark now. Not because of time, but because his eyes no longer worked. At the same time, an ever-present chill spread throughout the man’s body.

Realizing his end was there, the man thought about the girl’s question.

He had plenty of regrets. Expectations he couldn’t reach. Promises that he broke. Dreams that he chased but never fulfilled. And then, deciding it was impossible, settling for a mediocre life, having squandered his talents.

“I guess… I just don’t want to see another person throw their life away.”

Footsteps approached along with shouts.

Hearing that, the man muttered, “Well… looks like curtain call.”

Veronica gasped and then said, “W-Wait! Mister-!“

The man didn’t hear her last words. Even so, he put a smile on his face.

So as to calm down the beautiful girl that had been dealt a bad hand in life, so as to assure her that things would change for her from this point onwards.

Like that, he died.

---

The next day, a news report played on the local station. It told the story of a young girl, Veronica Taylor, just eighteen years old, attempting suicide by jumping off the infamous ‘Sheer Drop’ bridge connecting the business district with the residential area.

It also told the story of a courageous man who sacrificed his life to save her. Not only that, but with his dying breath, he gave his entire fortune to the young girl who had nothing to her name.

---

A story of despair and hope. One of fortune and misfortune.

The young girl was destined to perish, having been given the fate of misfortune throughout her life despite her brilliant talents.

The man was destined to a life of mediocrity, having been cowed by the world for daring to dream beyond his means.

Even so, in that moment, both of their lives were changed forever.

The man’s whim pulled a girl back from death and gave her the path to a new future at the cost of his life. Though he had plenty of years left to live, he decided to exchange it all so that one person wouldn’t suffer.

It wasn’t a guarantee.

The girl could still squander it all and suffer a cruel fate.

Even so, the man acted in spite of that, trying to save someone who could have been ungrateful.

“What nonsense.” A voice echoed through the void. “All that effort, all that goodwill, only to be trampled by ‘Fate’ without a fighting chance? And to not even be given a reward for that effort?”

Silence.

“Hmph. I expected as much from the almighty silent one. Then you don’t mind if I interfere? No, of course you don’t mind. After all, you aren’t in a position to refuse any more.”

A low rumble, as if to refute that person’s words.

The voice scoffed and then said, “She’s going to live a gilded life and I’m taking that guy. If you’ve got a problem with it, fight me any time you cold bastard.”

The rumble died down.

“I thought so.”  

Time and space distorted. At the same time, the golden threads of Fate shifted.

A towering figure stood, clutching a tiny light in his right hand and a frayed black string in his left.

Something opened its eyes.

The figure scoffed and let go of the string. As he did, the blackened string shimmered, turning a pure gold before weaving back into the golden tapestry hanging in the void. At the same time, he spun around, walking off into the void.

That something watched the figure leave. But when it saw that the figure wasn’t returning, that something closed its eyes once more.

And then silence returned, with nothing but the sight of glittering lights racing along the golden threads of Fate remaining in that void.