No, I can agree with Radium on this one. It does sound like the epilogue of either a really long story with lots of trials and tribulations, or the end of a trilogy, also with lots of problems and stuff.

On reread, it might work if there was a bit less recap in the journal entry. All these things could happen across the span of a moderate-length story, and then the entry without the recap would be used as an epilogue. Besides, suicide is a very final way to end many things, including stories and lives.

But don't get me wrong on this. Suicide also starts a generous number of problems. If Nodra was the last of his kind, one with no one to look to for help, then I could understand him ventilating his brain. However, I have two friends who recently considered giving themselves a nice, warm hole in their respective skulls, and after those two traumatic experiences I don't think I'm ever going to look at death, suicide, or life itself the same way again. I doubt they are either. Fortunately, with the help of some others, I was able to help to stop them from taking their own lives; ironically, the person who helped me stop the other the first time was the person threating his own life the second, and for the other person, vice versa.

It makes you wonder about the human mind, doesn't it? We, as a race, were born to survive and thrive and reproduce and grow and expand, but there will always be those certain individuals who consider themselves unworthy to be part of the gene pool. What's even worse is, if they don't have anyone around to tell them that they are valuable as people, then they often go through with it, and end up hanging from a fourth-story balcony with an extension cord tied around their neck.

I've had suicidal thoughts before, myself, but they were over trivial things. School was a major factor in my want to look for something beyond this existential plane. However, after two of my grandparents, four of my pets, and one of my best friends gave up their lives in exchange for eternal peace, I have a better grasp on how much one person can mean to everyone around him.

Note: That friend that I mentioned above? Yeah. He committed suicide on May 21, 1999. He was found with a bloody knife in his hand, lying on the kitchen floor of his house. I had known him for three years, but I had never expected him to actually want to take his own life. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would even think about ultimate sacrifice, let alone think about making it himself.

That's one of the reasons why I'm so averse to suicide. Because it's something that, once done, can never be undone. It's an irreversible change, and once you're done, you can't change your mind.

Food for thought.



Oh, and did I mention that I like the story? After all that sermonizing I suppose I forgot. Sorry.