falling down the stairs

i'm sitting at the kitchen table
trying to end a letter to a friend
of mine when i hear her

yelling to me from upstairs

she says

i think i'm going to fall
down the stairs

she says i'm standing here
at the top of the stairs

i'm standing on one foot
and i think i'm going

to fall

and i'm trying to think of what
else i want in the letter

what i need to say before it ends
and she yells to me

she says

did you hear me

i said i think i am

about to fall down these stairs
and when i do

i'm sure it will hurt me
a great deal

and i don't know how i should
end the letter

what i should write

just before i sign my name
and then i hear her again
saying oh my god

here i go

i am falling down the stairs
thump bump thud

and then nothing

i am just about to close it
writing something like

i miss you.

or i am thinking about you
as you read this

but i stop when i hear her again
saying

i have now fallen down the stairs
she says i am at the bottom

of the stairs

lying here very twisted and broken

i get up out of my chair

take the unfinished letter in my hand
and walk down the hallway

to the stairs

and look

and there she is

standing at the top of the stairs
her arms crossed over her chest
tears running down her face
she says

i think my neck is broken

i can feel a puddle of blood
forming underneath my head

i hold the letter out
towards her so she can see
and i ask her

do you think i should say love
at the end of this.