He stepped forward again, towards the ledge, almost convinced he was going to do it this time. But he hesitated yet again. He wasn’t good at making decisions. Fuck! In the military they made decisions for him. But on the other hand, they blamed it on him too when something went wrong. Now though the choice was solely in his hands, and nobody else’s. This time there wasn’t anyone with a higher rank in command.

And he hated it! He wasn’t used to being responsible for his own life.

Didn’t matter! He’d do it right this time, no matter what he decided. He promised himself that, he wasn’t going to fail another mission.

He looked up to the sky, just one last time. He wanted to see the stars again, even if they weren’t going to be as bright, and they were never as bright on the ground as they were up there, where there wasn’t any ground, or atmosphere, or anything, just the emptiness of the space, and yet it was hardly ever empty. He missed that, the feeling of being absolutely alone and yet a part of it all, like the universe, and something up there, something that he couldn’t quite describe. And up there it felt like it all meant something, which it didn’t down here, not for someone like him. And he doubted this feeling could have been forged, or replicated by any means, and that was part of the problem. So he looked, up at the stars, and just for a second it made him feel at home, even though the stars weren’t nearly as bright, and he knew they weren’t going to be, but at the time it didn’t matter. And he was able to breathe again suddenly, and it didn’t feel as bad anymore, and he almost felt hopeful, felt almost like himself again, and it was nice. Even if it was only for a second, and it wasn’t going to last, it was nice. And then he noticed something up there, something he didn’t expect to see, and the thought of jumping was pushed away to the back of his mind momentarily, freeing him, shutting down that unceasing chatter in his head, and just allowing him to see, and to focus.

It wasn’t a shooting star; he could tell straight away. There was something off about it, something he couldn’t quite put his figure on. And it intrigued him because he’d seen it all. But he hadn’t seen this.

It was falling from the sky, whatever it was, at a great speed. Corby narrowed his eyes at it.

No, no shooting star, definitely. The speed was off, the trail was off, everything was off. It was something else falling.

And just like that, as if the gods heard his silent plea, the choice had been made for him, and his destiny was taken from his hands once again.

Whatever it was falling from the sky, it was going to land in his apartment. However small and shitty it was.