Echo
The streets were crowded with people, some at the walkways and sidewalks,
some on the levy that ran along side the river. Most of the teens preferred
the forest that was on the east side of the river. But the best view
was from the bridge. The children were clearly impatient, jumping from
their parents side to the concrete rail, leaning over and watching the
boats pass under the bridge to the man-made island on the river. Then
they would turn on each other, chasing and tagging until they heard
their mothers scolds. The street on the bridge was getting more and
more crowded with traffic, and the noise of people talking and the laughing
of the children filled the cool night air.
It was dark, but I could still see a blood crimson band stretch along the horizon. I looked up in the other direction, the light band of stars that traveled across the sky barely visible despite the heavy glare of the city. I spotted an opening among the crowd and walked up to it. A perfect view. The forest to my left, dark except for the scattered sparkles of light caused by my friends' flashlights. The city to my right, brightly illuminated in blue-white light. And the river, separating the two, the civilized from the uncivilized, the calm from the wild, the order from the chaos, in a shade of green so dark, yet filled with the incandescent glow from the lights on the boats. I leaned forward against the rail, my hands clasped together in mid-air. I let my mind shift from on thought to the other as I patiently waited for the show to start. It was cool tonight; a gentle breeze passed through me and out onto the river. That was strange, since it was mid-summer. It wasn't normally this cool. The thought was shattered by a voice behind me. A bit shocked, I didn't turn right then. It called out to me again. The voice was strange; it was sharp, almost... angry? I turned. She was standing at the other side of the street with some of her friends. They were all staring at me, silently, behind her. She started for me, stopped to let a car pass, and resumed her course, each step an angry thud against the pavement. Her friends stayed behind. Her eyes were dark, not the gentle blue colored eyes I had remembered. Flashes of deep red would come up from their depths and blaze with fury. Her blond hair would sway along with the breeze, fluttering into her face. Her mouth was fiercely set, curled in a bit of a frown. She gave me a look of disgust as she stood in front of me. Then came the onslaught. She started yelling at me, a tone way beyond anger. She would turn her head this way and that as she pointed out my faults, bring her hands up in fists, and point occasionally at my heart. And each word was angrier than the ones before it. I never had a chance to speak, to defend myself. Then suddenly she stopped. Those on the bridge watched the whole scene, and her friends still stood on the other side of the road, not saying a word. And she screamed. In pure hatred and rage she screamed out, as if she had been stabbed in the back. It echoed out into the water, out into the hills and into the city, the shrill completely surrounding me. Then silence. All of a sudden she thrust her hand forward, and with full force came upon me and pushed me over the rail. For one second, I hung onto of the rail. For one second I held on in an effort to regain my balance. For one second, I looked at her, saw her expression turn to fear, saw her lunge for me to try to grab me, with tears already falling down her pale cheeks. The first of the fireworks went off at that moment, that one second. And I fell into the river. |