Sample from the book "Sober Conversation"

He could already feel the disappointment his parents would have in him, he tried to think of a way out. How could he put this off? It was far too late to do anything about it now. He couldn’t see any way out of this mess. He also had no plan to change anything. It all seemed so futile. He started to panic. He kept focusing on how bad this was going to be. He kept thinking about his father’s exasperated speech on paying attention in school. Brian remembered the bag full of pills he had stashed in his sock drawer. He tried to come up with a reason not to take all the pills and die. He needed a reason that was stronger than his fear of what was to come. He couldn’t find one. He was so tired of having no answers. He didn’t have the strength to fight back. He had no strength to ask his parents for help.
He got out the yellow pages and found the phone number for the counselor he had been going to see weekly. He told her that he had failed his report card and didn’t think he could face his parents with it. He told her that he had a big bag of pills and that he was thinking about taking all of them. Even in his clouded, disheartened mind, her answer shocked him. “Why don’t you go for a walk and wait for your parents to come home. You can talk to them then.” Brian replied “O.K.” He took her advice and went for a walk. He brought along a tall glass of water and his big bag of pills.

Sample #2 from the book "Sober Conversation"

He sat in the cold rain feeling sorry for himself. There wasn’t much thinking it through. He’d had enough. Without hesitation he took two or three pills and swallowed them. Now the ice had been broken. After a brief pause, he resumed taking two or three at a time. He wasn’t sure how many were in the bag, but he took them all. He was sure that he wanted to take enough to die. This wasn’t a cry for help. He only wanted the pain to end. He took all the pills without any hesitation or doubt.
When he was done, he felt no regret. He felt nothing but relief. He wasn’t sure how long it would take or how it would happen. He didn’t care. He was just relieved that it would soon be over. Brian had supper that night with his father and step mother like it was any other night. There was no drama, no suicide note. He called no attention to himself. He gave them no reason to suspect anything was wrong. He ate, did the dishes, pretended to do his homework and went to bed.

Sample #3 from the book "Sober Conversation"

Brian was shaking his head slightly. “I know this sounds stupid, but I’ve never really thought about controlling what happens to me. I’ve always just accepted whatever came along, for good or bad.”“That doesn’t sound stupid at all. You’re not alone.” Aaron reassured him. “That’s how a great many people go through life. That’s what separates the people who are achieving their goals from the people that sit around letting life happen to them. If you’re not happy with where you are, then you have to do something about it. That process starts with deciding what you want from life and knowing where you are in relation to that.”“So you’re saying I’ve got to get out of the back seat and into the driver’s seat. I have to be the one steering the bus.” Brian was starting to understand. I’m feeling so uncertain because I have no control of where I’m going. I’ve been waiting to see what happens next instead of deciding what happens next.”“Robin was right. You are a smart kid.” Aaron said with a smile. “You’re going to do just fine.”