A Sad Tune

My partner and I started playing a new game. It's called Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. The game was set in a fairy world where trolls and mystic creatures were commonplace. While progressing through the story, we chanced upon a man about to take his own life. Up to that point, the game had allowed some degree of NPC interaction, but nothing outside of the ordinariness of strumming someone's musical instrument or playing ball with a random child.

The distressed man tied a rope around a tree branch, climbed onto a wooden stool, and was about to jump. He kicked the footstool while our characters (the brothers) were just meters away.

I rushed toward him and held on to his lower torso, holding him up so the noose wouldn't strangle him, while my partner climbed the tree and untied the rope from above. He curled up on the ground and wailed.

As we continued to explore the surroundings while he cried his heart out, we saw smoke coming from a wooden house that was mostly lost to the fire. Next to it lay an orange sheet draped over the bodies of his wife and child.

The scouring of the torched terrain continued, and we found a small jukebox. Not knowing what it was or whether it bore any significance to either our characters or the grieving NPC, we carried the item, and it was automatically dropped on the floor when we got closer to the stranger.

He picked it up and started winding the box, and as the music played, the man's sobbing stopped. A message on the lower screen flashed, "Achievement Unlocked - A Sad Tune: You made someone feel better."

Why didn't the man attempt suicide again when we got through what remained of the house? He could've done it then with no one to stand in his way. And how did the jukebox's melody make him feel better? If anything, it should've opened the floodgates for all emotions that were still under the lid.

This short interaction packed a profound portrayal of loss, grief, and coping that I will probably never forget.