The photographer said later he’d never seen anyone look so calm as this poor girl, in the hole that seemed to be made for her.
She could be sleeping, he said. Are you sure she’s not just sleeping?
The crowds had gathered, hushed and quiet, as if they too were afraid to wake her.
He looked up the 86 stories she’d fallen, and down to the limousine, its roof compressed, cradling her like a duvet.
And he walked on, because she wasn’t asleep.
And he walked home, and he put the camera down, and didn’t pick it up again for years.
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This story came from the photo of Evelyn McHale, now known as ‘the world’s most beautiful suicide’. About everything anyone knows about her, along with the photo, can be found on this website:
http://www.codex99.com/photography/43.html