The Thud that Smashed a Dream

A/N: Get ready to cry. My first tragedy. Hopefully it's sad. Thanks for reading.

"To whom it may concern, you said that me living here has wrecked your life. Since I'm tall, I'm also a bit of a klutz. You said I've ruined everything, from a prized set of pearls to family photos. I'm sorry for that. It wasn't your fault, it was mine. It's always my fault. I can't take being nothing but a destructive monster anymore. Goodbye. 'Wreck-it' Ralph Moore." As the kind landlord read the letter that had been taped to the door of the tenent's apartment, he knew what he had to do. He, 'Fix-it' Felix Jackman, was always trying to help people. It was just who he was as a person. He stood there in thought about where the man had gone to. 'He's clearly upset and he seems like he might do something.' He heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and quickly ran over to the stairs. He knew that he was in better shape than Ralph was but that didn't stop him from running up the stairs.

Ralph had reached the roof and was feeling winded. He was out of shape but it wasn't like that mattered, his life would soon be over. He had always heard the voices, whispering about him. 'He never cares about anyone beside himself. I think Felix should kick him out of the building. He's not like the rest of us.' He could see their angry faces as he tried to apologize for the mess he caused. He was only trying to help. He just wanted them to see that he wasn't a monster, he was still a person like them. That didn't matter though since his feelings and thoughts would soon be cut short. He could still feel his neighbors hands pushing him out of their doors, their homes, and their hearts. He heard their voices and felt their hands pushing he to the side of the building. He didn't fight it, not anymore. He let the hands push him. He didn't dig in his heels to stop them. He had reached the edge and he stared straight down.

Felix had just reached the top of the building and forced the door to the roof open. He saw Ralph but he didn't want to startle him and cause him to fall. Felix slowly made his way over to his giant neighbor so that he could talk to Ralph and hopefully get him to stop doing this. "Hey there, Ralph."

Ralph turned his head slowly to see Felix standing there. "Get out of here Felix. I don't want you to be blamed for what I'm going to do."

"What are you going to do Ralph?" Felix asked inching closer to Ralph.

"This is where the game ends for me."

"Why end it all now?" Felix asked with geniune concern.

"It's gotten too much for me. Last night I heard Mary tell Gene that I had broken into her house by smashing her front door and destroyed everything in her house just for fun."

Felix bit his lip not wanting to ask the next question but it was his duty to know. "Did you do that Ralph?"

"I might have broken her front door but that was a long time ago. I haven't been invited to any of other's apartments for years."

Felix hadn't known that Ralph had been banned by the others for years. It hurt his heart that the people he was friends with could be so heartless to another tenent.

"I'm sorry Ralph. I didn't know."

"Don't feel too bad. It will all be over soon anyway. You won't have to deal with so many complaints anymore." Ralph looked down at his coming fate. The cold ground would be there. It couldn't shy away from the giant man.

"What are you planning to do Ralph?" Felix asked in a quiet voice, trying to wrap his head around what he was trying to prevent.

"Jump." That was all he said.

"Why don't you come down from there and we could talk?" Felix asked with a hopeful smile.

"Thanks Felix." Ralph said with a slight smile. Then turned back to look at the ground. "It's too late though. I can't handle the thought of being called a monster again. I can hear their voices in my head and whispers in my ears. It's too much." He said and pushed off against the wall and over the edge.

Felix ran to the edge and watched in terror as Ralph flew to the ground. Felix looked away as he heard the loudest thud he would ever hear and felt the ground shake. He knew it was too late but he still raced to the door and down the steps. When he got outside, he ran to Ralph and checked his pulse. As he expected, there was not one. He quickly ran back inside and called 911.

When the emergency professionals showed up a few minutes later, Felix had been waiting next to Ralph who had had covered up with whatever blankets he could find. Most of the workers went to work on Ralph to see if he could be saved. Felix watched with a choking feeling knowing that the man would not be able to be saved.

One worker came up to him, a woman with choppy blonde hair. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"He jumped off the roof." He lowered his eyes. "I tried to stop him."

"Have you found his next of kin?"

"What did you say, ma'am?"

"His closest family member. Have you tried to find them yet?"

"No, not yet but I own this building and he was a tenent. I'll go and look in his room." He tipped his hat to the woman and ran into the building.

When he reached Ralph's door, he quickly unlocked it with his keys. He pushed open the massive door and stepped inside. The room was almost bare. There was a table and one chair, a bed, two books and a small fridge. Felix looked over all the objects in the room, hoping that one of the books was an address book, neither one was though.

As he looked over the room one more time, he understood something. Ralph had no one else. He had only dreamed of someone to be with and talk to. It was too late to find one for him now. Felix wished that he could have seen this sooner and he could have been a friend to Ralph.

He walked toward the door. He picked up the note Ralph had written, knowing that they would want it. He closed the door and with his head down, he went back downstairs where everyone was waiting.