The Girl On The Bridge

"Open the door, you bastard!"

With both fists, Maria pounds on the door until her knuckles start
to
bleed. Walking around the house, she checks for an open window
but
finds none. Upstairs, she hears a window open and a man appeared.

"Get out of my sight before I call the cops! You will find your
things
on the lawn. There isn't any reason for you to come inside. You
don't
live here anymore. I changed the locks anyway. Go now!"

Maria looks up at the angry man in the window and wants to throw a
rock
at him. What a vile man. Such a waste of time being married to such
a
bastard? She looks at the pile of clothes on the lawn and cried.
Turning around, she leaves it to rot on the lawn.

"I don't care."

Maria runs down the street in tears.

The air is electric on that summer night. The wind sweeps through
the
street as Maria holds back tears and runs. North, south, who cares?
In
a desperate attempt to flee the danger behind her, she defies the
threat of thunder and the black skies above. The clouds are heavy
and
in a moment the world will be bursting with torrents of rain.

Maria finds a bench and sits down to think about what she was going
to
do. She arrives home to find all of her belongings thrown on the
lawn.
and the locks changed. Now, she had no family left here to help
her
through this devestating time. She curses herself over and over
for
staying with this vile man.

"He's an evil man with no heart or soul. I hope he rots in hell!"

"I don't belong in this world, this time, this existence. There must
be
peace on the other side if this world is so very painful for me
to
bear."

The black clouds burst into torrents of rain that soak her to the
bone.
Jet black hair clings heavily to her body. Her clothes are
soaked.
Maria starts to run. Funny, at this moment of crisis she remembers
how
her father would take her to the bridge in the center of the city
to
talk things over. Which college to apply to, which career path
and
other important decisions. Now with her father dead and gone, she
has
no one to share her confidences. No one who cares . She was
utterly
alone. She can't bear it. A world without love is not a world she
can
wake up to day after day.

She hears the thunder in the distance and watches as a flash of
lightning crashes down in the distance.

"One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three-one thousand. It's
three
miles away, right now. I love thunder. It is such a liberation.
The
rain clouds burst free and release all of their anger on the
earth
washing it free of anxieties and problems, making the air electric
and
fresh. It is exhilarating to watch. Like the gods have control of
the
four corners of nature, wind, rain, fire, and earth. The lightning
can
strike you at any time and if you are at the wrong place, you can
be
the target for the gods wrath. I love to close my eyes and put my
face
to heaven and feel the rain on my face. I defy the rain, the
thunder,
the lightning to find me."

She disappears into the darkness despite the rain and the danger
of
lightning.

Soon enough, Maria finds her bridge. The bridge that is so special
to
her and her dad. A huge suspension bridge in the middle of the
city
overlooking the river. She took the suspension wires in her hands
and
recall how comforting this bridge has been to her in the past.
Today,
however, it is painful. She holds on so tight to the wires that
her
hand starts to bleed. The blood dripps down her arm and onto the
sidewalk, but Maria doesn't care. She feels numb and just as the
blood
was flowing out of her, her zest for living wanes.

Walking to the middle of the bridge, Maria looks down at the
waterfall
and the rocks below . The water looks powerful. The rain clouds
so

black and beautiful. The world so wonderous around her. So alive.
It
was a sweet irony wanting to end your life when the world is
screaming
life all around you. The crashing of the water and the rain
excites
her. She wants to be part of it all. Anything has to be better
than
this dreary existence. She hops over the safety bar and holds on for
a
moment.

The thunder crashes. Maria takes a deep breath and looks up to
heaven,
the rain, blesses her with its soft sweet kisses, said Yes, go
ahead,
Jump.... It only takes a minute... It's so easy.. Go ahead..

JUMP!

She leapsinto forever. Peace. A black, velvet peace and blue
skies
forever and her Dad.

The air wisps by her head and she plummetsdown, down, down..

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Crash!

Crashing onto the rocks below, Maria looks up to heaven once more,
feels
the warm kisses of rain on her face and smiles.

This is the last thing she remembered before everything went...

Black.

She floats above her body in the blackness looking for the light.

"Where is the light? Isn't there supposed to be a better life
here?"

She listens intently for a sign. An answer.

She hears only silence.

There is only blackness enveloping her.

Her panic increases and once again, "Dear God, Where are you? Where
is
the light??"

She falls deeper into the black void where the silence is
deafening.

Maria is certain of only one thing...

The sound she is hearing is the bloodcurdling sound of her own
screams.