Juno is still sitting near the waterfall. The Hearse pulls up some meters behind him. It makes a screeching sound despite stopping on grass. He stands up and turns around to see Oto exiting the Hearse, holding the Scythe and a more neutral expression. Oto is missing his dress shirt and is instead wearing a simple red T-shirt. Cheron exits the Hearse and is also wearing a new outfit: an oversized collared shirt-turned-dress and several bandages, one of which wraps around her right eye.
After closing their doors, the two walk toward Juno. At the precipice, Oto clears his throat, twirls the Scythe, and puts on a happy face.
“Ready to die, boy?!”
“You’ll drop it eventually,” Cheron says, gesturing to the Scythe.
“Cheron, I’m not going to—”
All three of them watch as the Scythe spins out of control, into the river, and down the waterfall. With a face and body both as stiff as board, Oto plunges after the Scythe. Cheron sits by Juno, who scoots a little farther from the cliff again. Cheron whistles, mimicking the sound of a cartoon character falling.
“Sorry for the inconvenience. We’ve been having a terrible day. A client escaped and then— nevermind. I don’t want to talk about it,” Cheron says, straightening her shirt-dress. “It looks like you’re tired of bad news anyway.”
She stares at Juno. He doesn’t stare back.
“Got any family? Friends?” She asks.
Several seconds of silence pass. Cheron picks her cuticle until a crescent of blood forms.
“Yeah. A girlfriend, kind of,” Juno mutters, causing Cheron to flinch.
“Kind of? How can you kind of have a girlfriend—?”
“We broke up.”
“Oh.”
“But… we still see each other. There’s not, like, any animosity or…”
Cheron smiles.
Juno continues, “Besides, it’s not like I have anyone else, so I might as well keep in touch with her.”
The smile drops.
“Why did you break up?”
“You’re really invasive, you know that?”
She shrugs and looks at the ground below. “You don’t have to tell me, but earlier you seemed desperate for a good listener so…”
Juno’s face flushes bright red.
“She thought I was annoying. She didn’t like my constant venting. No one does. No one wants to hear a pathetic, sad man crying about how pathetic and sad his pathetically sad life is.”
“A therapist does.”
Juno stares at Cheron.
“Juno— your name is Juno right? You know firsthand that your sadness is a lot to bear. Maybe she was too caught up with her own. Maybe she was scared. Maybe she thought your sadness was her fault.” Still staring at the precipice, Cheron stands and rubs her bleeding thumb into her palm. “Or maybe she really did just think you were annoying. You don’t have to die because of it. There are lots of people in this world.”
“Like who?”
The blood has clotted and dried. “Like me.”
Juno stands to face Cheron, smiling until his eyes squint.
Cheron digs her tongue into her right cheek. “Or not, I mean, I’m kind of busy.”
The smile drops. Out of breath and Scythe in hand, Oto falls out of a tree behind Juno, who screams.
“What the—?!”
“Got it!”
Cheron tugs Juno’s shirt until he looks at her again.
“So you won’t jump?”
Juno consciously inhales and musters a smile.
“No, I won’t.”
Oto rips a branch out of his knotted ponytail. “But I— Do you have any idea what I just—?” He purses his lips, slumps his shoulders, and sighs, then smiles. “...I’m so happy for you.”
Cheron quickly exhales something close to a chuckle then thinks for a moment. She turns to Juno. “Where the hell do you live?”
Juno glances around. “Really invasive…”
“No, I mean, there’s nothing around for tens of miles. This waterfall isn’t even named.”
“Oh, sorry. I walked.”
Cheron starts toward the Hearse. “Wow. You really are suicidal.”
“Was!” Juno scampers behind her.
Oto saunters beside Cheron and holds her shoulder. She grabs a plastic bag of pills from her breast pocket. After opening the bag, she chucks a random number of pills into her mouth. Juno eyes her.
“What are those for?”
“They’re painkillers. I used to have a right eye— did you not notice?”
“Are you— I have bad memory— Are you okay?! That’s— I’m so sorry— That’s awful!”
“I’m kind of dizzy, now that they’re really kicking in.”
Oto sweats, wondering again why he has the ability to sweat. As Cheron starts to sway, he steps behind her and holds her other shoulder.
Juno quickens his pace until he faces Cheron. “Why did you come here?! Why aren’t you in the hospital?!”
Cheron stops and braces herself. “Oh— Oh my God. Stop yelling. We’re walking too fast.”
“Sorry, sorry…”
Cheron sighs. “If you really want to know, I’m… familiar with this waterfall. I didn’t want anyone else to…” She frowns, eyes heavy.
Oto opens the driver’s door for Cheron, who grips the Scythe as she sits herself and closes the door. On the other side of the Hearse, Juno stands a few meters away and stares at Cheron through the passenger window. Oto walks around, avoiding a small but gnarly branch on the ground in front of Juno.
The taller man clears his throat. “You coming, bud?”
Juno blinks and rubs his neck. “I’m— I’m so sorry, but… How— Why is she familiar with this place?”
Oto sharply inhales and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “That’s for another chapter.”
Juno clutches his shirt. “Well… Whatever happened... I want her to know that I’ll always support her. She saved me.”
Smiling and spinning on his heel, Oto walks toward the Hearse again, avoiding the branch. “Let her know yourself.” He turns his head. “We can drive you home. What are your plans after this?” Oto kicks a small rock in front of the branch.
Juno beams and steps forward. “At this cliff, I truly did die, but I was born anew. Death, thanks to you and Cheron, I’ll—”
Oto opens the front and back seat passenger doors. “No problemo, fellow!” He observes Juno’s footsteps. “Just be careful, okay?”
Juno marches on. “I will! From here on out, I’m going to commit. I’ll get a shrink, I’ll work things out, I’ll—” He trips over the branch, plops head first onto the small rock, and dies.
After seeing the whole thing and staring a couple more seconds, Oto blinks twice. “Uh…” His eyes glow. “...Huh.”
A minute passes.
Cheron honks the horn several times. She hollers deliriously, “What’s taking y’all so long?!” She keeps honking.
Oto pulls up his Scythe. “...We just finished.”
The sun sets at the edge of the waterfall, washing the whole river with bright kumquat color.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
