My Bondi Guardian Angel

Cliff Jumping

Today, I was terrified.

James came back around 7:00 a.m., still drunk. When he got home, he had lost his keys, or he just had left them at home, so he knocked on the door until I woke up and opened it for him, which took a few minutes.

I was still in my pj's, and he wasn't really happy about it, so he just yelled at me for about an hour. I then made breakfast for him, hoping he would sober up, but he thought his toasts weren't as baked as he wanted them, so he slapped me in the face and ate them anyway. 

He was mad until he left again, around midday. When he was about to leave, he punched me in the face. When I asked him what it was for, he said that I just needed it to keep my mind in a good way for the day.

I just went into my bedroom and cried for what seemed like hours. I thought about myself, my situation and everything that I had left. There wasn't much: I didn't have any parents, my friends pretty much abandoned me, my boyfriend was a shitty one, and passions or social life weren't to consider. These reflections led me up to Bondi's cliffs, about a five-minute walk from James' and I's apartment.

I started taking off my shoes, then my socks, then my sweater, and I walked to the edge of the cliff. The abyss below seemed like an escape from the relentless storm inside me.

***

 Jesse's Point of View

I was sitting in the blue rhino with Mouse, the Black Cloud, near Backpacker's rip. I was just chatting with him, looking at the water. I then received a radio call from the tower.

"Central to Blue Rhino, Jesse can you take a walk up the cliffs, I think there's a girl who's about to jump, I'm waiting on your assessment to get police or ambulance involved," Harrison, one of the recruits, said on the radio.

"Copy that, I'm going. I'll report in a few," I answered.

The cliffs were minutes away from my location, so I climbed up to the top. I could see the girl Harrison was talking about. Yes, I would definitively say that she was preparing herself to jump. I slowly and silently walked up to her. When I was a few meters away, she heard me and turned around.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked, in the softest voice possible, my finger preparing to press the call button on my radio.

She was crying.

"Ehh... I don't know. The only thing left to do, I think." She paused, looking at her feet. "Just go away," she murmured.

"I can't leave, not when I see you like this. Wanna tell me what is going on?"

"What's the point? You wouldn't understand." I could tell she wasn't delighted by my interruption.

"I might not, but I can listen. You can talk to me." She didn't answer. 

Too late, I thought. She would definitively not tell me. I took another step. She moved back again. She was getting closer to the edge, my heart was racing. I held out my hand a second time.

"Please... My job is to save lives. If I could just lift a bit of the weight pressing on your shoulders, I'd be happy to." I felt like no amount of training would have prepared me adequately for this kind of situation.

"Life has just become a never-ending storm. It feels like I'm drowning."

"I'm really sorry you're feeling this way." I paused, searching for the right thing to say. "But I believe storms pass, and I believe you can weather this one. " She looks up at me.

"You don't understand, nobody does. What if I can't handle it anymore? What if I'm broken?" 

"You're not broken. You're hurting. And hurt can heal, especially with the right support." She was crying now. I took another step forward, but this time, she didn't move.

"I don't know if I can see a way out of this darkness." 

I had never encountered someone so utterly helpless before. I channelled all the kindness within me into a gentle smile, "I can't promise it'll be easy, but I can promise that I'll be here every step of the way if you need me. You don't have to go through this alone." All I could do was hope.

Olivia's POV

This guy was really getting to me... I might not be alone through this, but he couldn't begin to imagine how lonely I felt. It would have been much easier if he hadn't been here! But he still had a point. Maybe suicide wasn't my last option. So I just took the easy way out. "Ok, maybe... maybe I'll try," and I let him move closer to me again. I just continued crying until he reached me, and held me in a tight hug as if he was scared I would run and jump.

"Thank you, darling... That's all I'm asking. You can't realize how relieved I am you changed your mind. You should really talk to someone you know about how you feel, though. Can I call anyone to come pick you up?"

He led me closer to the promenade as I looked back to the promised peace I was leaving behind, walking away from the edge. He sat with me a little longer until I had calmed down, and once he was assured I would be fine by myself, and had me promise I would come back or call someone if I needed anything, he let me walk back home and went back to work.

I promised I would try, I would have to see how much longer I could manage. If not, it wasn't my last try. Talking doesn't solve things. Actions do.

Author's note: This is a story and not a depiction of reality. A person in distress should not be left alone at any point.