In New York City on September 4, 2013, Henry Strauss drinks heavily to dull the pain of a broken heart and the relentless “storm” in his mind. His friends try to reassure him it will pass, but Henry leaves anyway, chasing numbness after the bottle runs out.

On the walk home it starts to rain, Henry ignores his phone, and he drops the bottle and cuts his hand. He reaches his building, sinks onto the stoop, and tries to convince himself it is only another storm, even as it feels endless.

Desperate for relief, Henry takes some of his sister’s pills and then some of his own, but even that cannot quiet his thoughts. He goes inside, climbs past his apartment, and keeps ascending until he reaches the roof.

In the pouring rain, Henry walks across the empty tarred stretch toward the edge, too tired to keep choosing to live, and steps forward until the tips of his shoes hang over open air. At that moment, a stranger—darkness made present—finds him and offers to pull him back.

The offer is not for a lifetime but for a single year, and Henry, exhausted and willing to trade anything for even a moment of peace, does not hesitate. He takes the stranger’s hand and simply says yes.