Bash
I’m dead. It’s a
strange feeling, a bizarre realization, but I’ve never been in less pain. The
death I wished for only hours ago has come to pass. I am oddly at peace, but
ashamed. I’m not alone. Her body lies beside mine. She isn’t aware. I sit up
and stare at her. Her eyes are still, yet a faint light radiates from her. It
flickers in and out. She’s fighting for life.
I’m distracted.
Overjoyed.
No more football
practices or hours of weight training. No more lectures from my father and
everyone constantly telling me “the whole town is counting on you, son.”
It’s over.
Really over.
As I sit on the
bank of the riverbed, I remember the girl who lays lifeless among the leaves
and the dirt with her wet hair stuck to the side of her face.
I remember.
“Please don’t be
dead.” I reach out to check her pulse, but my hand goes right through her small
body. Right through her heart.
I never meant
to hurt her, but the entire night is slipping away from my mind. Little grains
of sand that I desperately try and hold within my grasp, but they find the
cracks and slip through my fingers. When I think of Quinn, there is only emptiness.
I once loved her, care for her, but I can’t feel that emotion anymore. It’s
dead. I’m dead inside. So this is the afterlife? To roam the earth aimlessly?
“Wake up, Quinn.
Wake up. Wake up !” I’m yelling at her, hoping that she can somehow hear
me. Sticky, wet blood pools on the leaves around her head. So much blood. Too
much blood. No one is out driving this late at night. No one will see her lying
here, dying. I can’t let that happen. The only reason she’s hurt is because I
had to go and screw things up like I always do. I had to get drunk and
threaten to kill myself, all over losing some stupid football game.
No, she wasn’t
going to die tonight. Not while I was around. For once in my life, I will save her . I look up at the old rusty bridge, the one that the car had flipped
off of, and I find myself instantly at the top of it.
How in the world did I get up here?
I don’t know
how I plan on saving her, but I need to get someone who is alive. Two large headlights
appear in the distance, and as they speed toward me at forty-five miles per
hour, I wave my hands in the air.
“Hey, stop!
Somebody stop!” They aren’t slowing. I move out of the way at the last second,
and the car drives past as if they hadn’t seen me.
They didn’t see
me, of course. I bet they would have driven right through me.
I glance over
the edge of the bridge. “Don’t die on me, Quinn.”
Two more lights
appear in the distance.
This is pointless. Bash, don’t give up on her now!
“STOP!” The
small car is heading right for me, not slowing.
“PLEASE STOP!” I
scream louder this time. A wave of static energy flows through the air, causing
a tree branch to fall. The rotted wood lands on the side of the bridge, beside
a pile of twisted metal from the car bumper. I allow myself to breath
Do I even need oxygen now?
The car swerves
and pulls off to the side of the road.
Thank God. He
stopped. He will take care of her. A man, who looks to be in his mid-thirties,
steps out of the car with a flashlight.
“What the—” he
points the light around the bridge and shines it at the wreckage.
“Over here!” I
call out. I run to the side of the bridge and turn my eyes toward Quinn. Her
light is fading. It’s hard watching her mangled body, but I have to save her. I
need to save her, and I’m doing a terrible job. I throw my hands in the air and
yell again. “Over here, dude!”
He takes his
time walking along the bridge, but panics when he picks up some of the
wreckage. His eyes search the darkness.
“Anyone out there?”
the man yells out. “Anyone need help?”
“Down there!” I
point off the bridge toward the water. Why do I keep talking? He can’t hear me
or see me. The man points his flashlight off the side of the bridge and scans
the
I’m dead. It’s a
strange feeling, a bizarre realization, but I’ve never been in less pain. The
death I wished for only hours ago has come to pass. I am oddly at peace, but
ashamed. I’m not alone. Her body lies beside mine. She isn’t aware. I sit up
and stare at her. Her eyes are still, yet a faint light radiates from her. It
flickers in and out. She’s fighting for life.
I’m distracted.
Overjoyed.
No more football
practices or hours of weight training. No more lectures from my father and
everyone constantly telling me “the whole town is counting on you, son.”
It’s over.
Really over.
As I sit on the
bank of the riverbed, I remember the girl who lays lifeless among the leaves
and the dirt with her wet hair stuck to the side of her face.
I remember.
“Please don’t be
dead.” I reach out to check her pulse, but my hand goes right through her small
body. Right through her heart.
I never meant
to hurt her, but the entire night is slipping away from my mind. Little grains
of sand that I desperately try and hold within my grasp, but they find the
cracks and slip through my fingers. When I think of Quinn, there is only emptiness.
I once loved her, care for her, but I can’t feel that emotion anymore. It’s
dead. I’m dead inside. So this is the afterlife? To roam the earth aimlessly?
“Wake up, Quinn.
Wake up. Wake up !” I’m yelling at her, hoping that she can somehow hear
me. Sticky, wet blood pools on the leaves around her head. So much blood. Too
much blood. No one is out driving this late at night. No one will see her lying
here, dying. I can’t let that happen. The only reason she’s hurt is because I
had to go and screw things up like I always do. I had to get drunk and
threaten to kill myself, all over losing some stupid football game.
No, she wasn’t
going to die tonight. Not while I was around. For once in my life, I will save her . I look up at the old rusty bridge, the one that the car had flipped
off of, and I find myself instantly at the top of it.
How in the world did I get up here?
I don’t know
how I plan on saving her, but I need to get someone who is alive. Two large headlights
appear in the distance, and as they speed toward me at forty-five miles per
hour, I wave my hands in the air.
“Hey, stop!
Somebody stop!” They aren’t slowing. I move out of the way at the last second,
and the car drives past as if they hadn’t seen me.
They didn’t see
me, of course. I bet they would have driven right through me.
I glance over
the edge of the bridge. “Don’t die on me, Quinn.”
Two more lights
appear in the distance.
This is pointless. Bash, don’t give up on her now!
“STOP!” The
small car is heading right for me, not slowing.
“PLEASE STOP!” I
scream louder this time. A wave of static energy flows through the air, causing
a tree branch to fall. The rotted wood lands on the side of the bridge, beside
a pile of twisted metal from the car bumper. I allow myself to breath
Do I even need oxygen now?
The car swerves
and pulls off to the side of the road.
Thank God. He
stopped. He will take care of her. A man, who looks to be in his mid-thirties,
steps out of the car with a flashlight.
“What the—” he
points the light around the bridge and shines it at the wreckage.
“Over here!” I
call out. I run to the side of the bridge and turn my eyes toward Quinn. Her
light is fading. It’s hard watching her mangled body, but I have to save her. I
need to save her, and I’m doing a terrible job. I throw my hands in the air and
yell again. “Over here, dude!”
He takes his
time walking along the bridge, but panics when he picks up some of the
wreckage. His eyes search the darkness.
“Anyone out there?”
the man yells out. “Anyone need help?”
“Down there!” I
point off the bridge toward the water. Why do I keep talking? He can’t hear me
or see me. The man points his flashlight off the side of the bridge and scans
the
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