I’m not exactly sure how I ended up here. My life was perfect. I had a lovely wife, two beautiful children, a successful dental practice. I had it all, until it all fell apart. Due to a financial scandal, my dental practice began to crumble; along with it, my marriage. So she left. She just took the kids and left. She didn’t even tell me in person, she left me a note. I lost everything I loved in just a month.

Maybe that’s how I ended up on the roof of this disco bar, ready to jump; to take away my pain, my shame, my humiliation. I could do it. All I have to do is close my eyes and fall. I could leave this world and everything in it. I wouldn’t have to deal with my pain. I would be at peace.

Peace. That sure sounds nice.

I close my eyes and lift my face towards the sky. Just as I’m about to let myself fall, I look back across the street and something catches my eye. There, in the graveyard, is a woman in a white coat covered in red flowers. She’s standing beside a grave and I can see that her shoulders are shaking from her sobs. I watch as her hands cover her face and she slowly falls to her knees. I don’t have to see her face to see how heartbroken she is.

For the first time in a long time, I think about how someone else must feel. This woman obviously lost someone very important to her. I bet she would do anything to get them back and here I am, standing on the roof, about to end my own life. Who am I to be that selfish? Who am I to cause my loved ones more pain?

I look down from the ledge I was standing on and my heart starts to beat faster and my breath comes in short bursts. What on earth was I just doing? Was I really going to end my life just because I was upset with how it was going? I step off of the ledge and wipe the sweat that had started to drip down my face.

I’m not going to cause anyone the kind of pain that woman was feeling. I’m going to go home, call my wife and kids and fight for them. Tell them that I love them and turn my life around.

I’m walking away from the ledge a changed man. I silently thank the woman in the graveyard for saving my life. I never saw her face but because of her I have hope. I know what I need to fight for. My life is saved because of the woman in red.