8: Leroy kills himself

en·nui
a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom: "The endless lecture produced an unbearable ennui."

The first time Leroy Thavish killed himself, he hung from a tree by the lake for nine hours before someone found him. He had picked a special spot, where he'd met his love decades earlier, and where he'd scattered her ashes decades later.

Leroy had made the decision on a Friday. He'd always known he would get to it eventually; it was just a matter of getting off his ass. On Sunday, he woke up at 11, groaned at the clock, showered, fed his three cats, and set off for the lake with a length of rope. The waves were beautiful. The knot was immaculate.

On Monday afternoon, Dr. Matthews shook his head at an X-ray and said, "I don't understand it. It was a clean break. Your spine was severed the moment you fell. And now it just... isn't."

Leroy, sitting on the hospital bed, rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced at the doctor. "Being immortal sucks," he said. "Don't try it."