May 18 - Mr. Curious

He had curiosity and recklessness in equal measure. No matter how ill-advised the prospective undertaking was, he wanted to see what would happen, never mind the consequences.
Among his most memorable experiments:
Q: What will happen if I drink eight large cups of bubble milk tea and then do wind sprints?
A: You will yack up the weirdest looking puke the world has ever seen.
Q: Everybody knows that if you laugh while you're drinking milk, the milk will go up your nose. But what about if you're eating something? Will that go up your nose, too?
A: Yes.
Q: Is it possible to literally shop till you drop?
A: Yes, but it takes a really long time and entails spending a lot of time in convenience stores because you have to keep going all night.
Q: Is shooting fish in a barrel really that easy?
A: Pretty much, but make sure your barrel is outside. Fun fact: Bullets will pass through the bottom/side of a barrel (and into your floor) almost as easily as they will a fish.
After getting evicted from the apartment where he confirmed that one, he found a new place on the other side of town. It was on the 8th floor and it was accessible by elevator and exterior stairway.
He was never even remotely a depressed person, but the more times he went up those stairs, the more he couldn't help wondering where the line of demarcation was between the height of a survivable fall from his building's exterior stairway and an unsurvivable fall. Where was the cutoff? Jumping from the stairway on his floor would obviously mean certain death, just as a jump from the 2nd floor would probably be no big deal. But somewhere between the two there had to be the precise point above which would mean death and below which would mean survival. Just as there was the straw that would break the camel's back, there had to be the step that would end the jumper's life.
A gruesome thought, yes. But he was curious. He wanted to find that spot. But how?
It was idiotic to try it out, even for him. There was no reason for him to risk his life for an experiment like that. Not when he was as healthy as he was.
But what about if he had a terminal illness? That might change things.
He went to the doctor and got a full battery of tests, hoping for the worst. But the bad news was that it was good news. He was fine.
Fine, but not ready to give up. He decided that if he wasn't terminally ill now, maybe he could help move himself in that direction.
He became a heavy smoker, hoping to give himself lung cancer; a heavy drinker, hoping to give himself cirrhosis of the liver; an adherent of the unhealthiest of diets, hoping to give himself diabetes or heart disease.
But nothing worked. He continued to get clean bills of health every time he went in for a physical. After two years of this, he started seriously considering the possibility that he was invincible. In which case, it was high time he got on with the experiment. The next morning he woke up to a beautiful, sunny day. The perfect day for an experiment.
He decided not to waste his time with the 2nd floor, and went straight to the 3rd. But when he got there, he decided it was really high after all, so he went back down to the landing between the 2nd and the 3rd, and after two false starts, he launched himself out away from the landing and plummeted to the ground.
At first, he was hesitant to move and he lay still for almost a minute. But once he realized he was fine, it was exhilarating. He was fine after a jump from two and a half stories! He tore up the stairs and jumped from the 3rd floor without hesitating.
This time his ankles paid a heavy price and he was seriously shaken up, but overall he felt OK.
The 4th floor was next.
He broke both legs in multiple places.
Undeterred, a year later, he tried again from the 4th floor plus one step, breaking his legs again and adding a collarbone and hip to the injury list.
A year after that, he jumped from the 4th floor plus two steps. Seven broken ribs, breaks in both arms and both knees, and a concussion were the result.
The next year he returned to the 4th floor and added four more steps. He swung one leg over the rail and looked down. Then, holding onto the rail, he swung his other leg over. Cars hissed by on the nearby freeway. A breeze blew through his hair. The sun shone through the trees, making him squint. And somehow he knew. This was the height. If he jumped from here, he would die. If he slid down a few inches and jumped, he would survive. He had no idea how he knew, but he knew.
He sat on the rail and took in the view. Then he swung his legs back over the rail and walked up the rest of the stairs to his apartment and thought about what his next experiment would be.