I shouldn’t have stopped.
The bridge was large, I assume it had to be, it stretched across a lake. However whoever built it took special pride in it, decorating it with beautiful cornices and spikes. Making it look like it was pulled directly from a Victorian castle. Every arch started low and than ascended high into the sky, before falling back to the earth and rising again. Despite it’s beauty, the support beams were showing wear. Even the most beautiful thing on the planet lost it’s beauty when you failed to notice it. A few minutes ago I was running across with no other goal but to keep my health good, my girlfriend and I had been drifting away from each other for a while. I assume it’s because I’m not as good looking as I used to be. However now I was stopped, dead, unmoving. Watching the scene in front of me.
I should never have stopped.
I approached the Woman as closely as I could without startling her. She stood at the edge, softly swaying from side to side. The wind around her wasn’t strong enough to break her balance but it was strong enough to threaten too. There wasn’t much light out either. The horizon was painted red, showing signs that the Sun would soon light the world. However not soon enough, a few things needed to be done in the dark. This was one of them.
I ask her if she’s okay.
She doesn’t answer me, so I step closer. This Woman was literally standing between life and death. She could jump at any time or step away from the edge at any time. It was her choice, but it was my job to influence that choice. The same way I was also trying to influence my best friend not to leave town. I call her name again and this time she turns to look at me. Behind me cars are passing, they didn’t stop like I did. They want nothing to do with this. I shudder, I’ve seen cars move quickly by when my dog runs into the street. They don’t stop for him and there not stopping for her. I want nothing to do with this either but a person is in trouble and I couldn’t bring myself to walk by.
I talk to her.
We talk about her family, her children, her husband. She’s crying the entire time as she explains that she doesn’t want to do this. She apologizes to me and I tell her there’s nothing to apologize for. She says there is and I tell her not to again. She’s just a person, someone going through a tough time. Someone who doesn’t see that things will get better but they will.
She’s says they won’t.
She tells me another story now, Her family had gone on vacation. They had an amazing time and bonded like they never had before. Unfortunately when they were leaving she took something. A souvenir from a man on the street. He told her how beautiful she was and gave her a pendent. She assumed that it was just a local being nice to a tourist. However when she got home, things changed.
I tell her that it can’t be that bad.
She assures me it is. First she found that he husband was cheating on her, than her daughter had been hit by a car and ended up in hospital. Her son had failed his grade and her mother passed away. Everything had gone wrong in such a small amount of time and it was all tied to the pendent. She pulls it out of her pocket looking hyper fixated on it.
I tell her that things will get better.
She continues to stare at the pendant, it’s clear that she’s having a mental breakdown. This woman has had everything go wrong in her life and she chose to blame it on something. Something small, something she shouldn’t have, something given to her under suspicious circumstances. Of course she would try and find something to blame for problems as natural as the ones she described. When too many things go wrong, we want something to blame.
I tell her to throw it over and come back.
She tells me it won’t work, it will only get worst. Now she tells me about how her family is in debt, How she was fired and how her husband is filing for divorce. She blames herself. She believed the only way to help her family, is for her to take the pendant far away. Maybe heaven, Maybe hell. At least there’ll be safe. She doesn’t see that She just wants to escape life. Everything went wrong and She doesn’t want to feel the pain of if anymore.
I tell her not to do it.
All at once, She tries to jump. A strong gust of wind pushes her forward and backwards. She Stumbles, the pendant falls from her hand and than she falls over. As the small metal souvenir clinks on the floor, She hits the water.
It sounds like a gunshot.
The water below is malleable, it’s not solid, but it might as well be. As she hits it, for a split second I see her body contort. Her arms twist back, her knees bend backwards and I can almost see her head flatten on one side. The impact of the water was the same as the impact of a concrete floor. Than the sun rises.
I pick up the pendant.
It’s a cheap piece of metal shaped like a heart. A trinket molded in a mass production factory and probably sold cheaply on any street in the world. Made to be worn by children who don’t know the difference between real jewelry and take jewelry. It’s nothing, it means nothing, it’s just a pendant. Unfortunately when things go wrong, we all try to find something to blame.
Her body is eventually found.
That is after days of searching. Unfortunately her body was too damaged by the impact for her too have an open casket funeral. I meet her family, her husband doesn’t even cry for her, I assume the Woman standing next to the parking lot is his mistress. Her son is a nice kid but not too bright and her daughter made a full recovery.
The pendant is just a trinket.
I took it with me that day, I didn’t want her family to know that she had a mental breakdown. That would be painful for them. So I took it, long before the police and emergency services arrived. It’s just a pendant. Just a piece of metal. However things have started to go wrong in my life, many things.
I stare at the pendant.
My girlfriend broke up with me, My best friend moved away and my dog ran into the street and was hit by a car. It all started the day I picked up this fucking pendant. I wished I never picked it up and now I want to escape the pain.