"Today is a good day to die," he thought.
After years of studying, university projects, and endless effort, he had finally managed to get into a good company. Today was supposed to be his first day. He knew there would be more challenges waiting for him, but he had taken the first step. The hardest part was taking that first step… wasn't it?
Last week, he had proposed to his girlfriend because it felt like the right time. After all, his friends were doing the same thing: preparing to get married after graduation and finding a job.
Besides, he wanted to provide definite answers to the two questions he'd been asked since graduation: "When will you get a job?" and "When will you get married?"
Anyway… Long story short, his girlfriend said "yes."
He was happy, content, and fulfilled. This was enough. It should be enough.
He was at the peak of his life. If he disrupted this natural flow, if he waited any longer, he was sure something would go wrong. What he didn't know was that the problem was already waiting for him. The "natural flow" of life he thought was difficult in itself. It was just that generalizations made it seem simple because everyone followed the same challenging path.
If you asked what challenges awaited him, well… his new boss at work was eagerly looking forward to scolding this rookie who had been hired instead of the candidate he had wanted.
On the other hand, his girlfriend — now fiancée — had started making grand wedding plans. It was going to be an incredibly lavish wedding by the sea. After all, one only got married once in a lifetime — even if that wasn't necessarily the case these days with divorce rates being so high, it was romantic to think so.
His parents had plans of their own. His family was getting ready to ask him for money as soon as he got his first paycheck to buy a camper van. They wanted to spend their retirement traveling the world.
If he had known all of this, he might have said, "I wish I were dead" instead of "Today is a good day to die."
But even without knowing these facts, he continued to think about why today would be a beautiful day to die. He would die as someone who had achieved everything he needed to—graduated from a good university, had a beautiful fiancée, was the perfect son for his parents to brag about, and had found a good job. He was at the peak. If he died now, perhaps it could be called "leaving at the top."
And that's exactly what happened.
Death is seen as something that disrupts the natural flow. It's not included in plans because it is unexpected. Most of the time, it is sudden, especially for the young. When a young person dies, we think, "He was too young to die." But since when has death care about age?
Actually, it is interesting. Death is more natural than studying, finding a job, working, or getting married. But the very nature of this natural state as an independent variable prevents it from being included in our plans. If we acknowledged this possibility as valid for every phase of life, perhaps we would live more fully. But we see it as something too frightening—something that hinders both life and progress.
He hadn't included death in his plans either.
But fate, coincidence, misfortune—call it what you want—arranged an early meeting between him and death.
As he was about to get into his car to go to work, he suddenly decided that driving made him too nervous and that taking the metro would be more relaxing.
At the metro station, he joined the crowds rushing to work, school, or elsewhere. At one point, he felt a shared sense of destiny with these people.
However, what would separate his destiny from theirs happened in exactly ten seconds. The metro was approaching the station. Like everyone else, he moved closer to the line. Then, suddenly—according to the people at the station—he tripped, or slipped, or was pushed from behind... or maybe he jumped intentionally; no one knew for sure. One way or another, he found himself on the tracks.
It is widely believed that this kind of death would be very painful. But for him, everything ended quickly and painlessly. Though, if the metro hadn't slowed down and had hit him a bit harder, it might have ended even quicker. Still, he was lucky.
When his soul separated from his body and he regained consciousness, his first thought was how embarrassing his fall must have looked. He hoped not many people had seen it. Then, he bent down to look at his body lying on the tracks. He didn't usually think he was particularly handsome—not bad-looking either—but he was glad his face hadn't been disfigured in the accident.
People were annoyed because they were late for work. They had a point. If he had been in their place, he would have been annoyed too. What kind of inconsiderate person would choose to die on the metro tracks? How selfish can someone be! Especially during rush hour. Unbelievable!
Modern people hate waiting.
He didn't like waiting either. But since he was dead, he could wait. There was nowhere he needed to be anymore.
He waited.
And waited.
He waited for something to happen.
After waiting a bit longer, he decided to walk along the tracks. Maybe there would be something like the light at the end of the tunnel. He walked for a while, but there was no light. Feeling bored, he returned to the place where he had died and sat down.
While thinking about what to do next, someone tapped him firmly on the shoulder.
Though the idea of being dead didn't seem unpleasant, he froze with fear. He knew this was the "Angel of Death". Before turning around, he wanted to take one last look at the world in front of him. He took a deep breath—then he thought how ridiculous that was. He was dead. Just a habit, he figured.
The fact that his final view was a dimly lit metro station annoyed him. While these thoughts swirled in his head, the "Angel of Death" shook him harder this time.
"Hey!"