The irony in this she thought as she sat starring out the window of the little café she stopped at on her way up to the lake. The day started off simply enough, with a plan to escape reality. She had taken the three hour drive up to the mountains the day before to her dad’s cabin he kept up north the property was nice and close to the lake. She was remembering the last time they came up here as a family, spending the day. Her sister was swimming and trying to convince her to come into the water. Shortly after that day their life changed. It was nice here calm and peaceful she watch as the sun was setting behind the mountain peaks reflecting rays of fiery light down below on the water. Tonight she decided that her life was going to change here again…
His sister decided that she wanted to stop at the quaint little eatery on their way into town. They been driving for eight hours straight and “one can only survive on junk food for so long” his sister said. His sister was making small talk with their overly friendly waitress. Looking around the small rustic eatery there were only a few customers about they could be described as the trucker types. That’s when he spotted her she was sitting in a booth at the far corner of the room. The light was dimmer over on that side of the room and she was halfway in the dark. She was sitting there stirring the spoon in her drink just looking out the window as if lost in thought. Her hair was dark and pulled back in one of those messy ponytails; she looked as if she was tired, weary. “Hello… hey I am talking.” Ouch… why did you kick me?” “I was asking you if you were ready to leave and you...” she stopped talking and turn to notice the girl that her brother was staring at. “Oh.” She sighed. The girl had gotten up dropped some money on the table and turned to leave. She waited till the girl had walked past their booth and out the door. She looked at her brother they both were silent for a few minutes. “Ready “he said as he placed cash into the black folder the waitress and they left. He notice as the girl passed them that she had black circles under her eyes and they both felt the depression rolling off her, but there was something else too. “What is she?” his sister nudged him as they walked out the door. The girl was still there just sitting in her car. She elbow her brother “ okay I am going to drive up to the scenic view and take some pictures, I know that you want to go play hero, just call me when you are ready to leave.” She gave him a hug and a quick kiss to his cheek turned and walked back into the little restaurant. The girl started her car and he watched her pull out of the parking lot and turned left he followed.
Standing out on the bridge looking over the lake the sun had set and it was dark out. No city lights to outshine the stars. She was sitting on the concrete fence that was put up to keep on lookers from going to close to the edge. The place was quiet out, not many travelers come up here during the fall months. So she was pretty much alone here just how she wanted it to be. Here where she could think of all the negative things that happened in her life the past year. She was mentally putting them into a box and closing it up tight.
In her hand she held what was literally a small box. It was time to move on, time to say goodbye…. She was startled by the sounds of footsteps nearby. A voice from behind her spoke “it’s not recommended to sit on the ledge like that.” The voice was male with a hint of an accent to it. She turned to see where the person was. He was just a few feet to her right. He was wearing jeans and a black hoodie over his head. “Mind if I join you?” not giving her a chance to answer he hopped up next to her. They sat there not saying a word just watching the stars twinkle in the water below. She almost forgot that he was there, when he spoke. “I don’t know what happened in your life to have brought you here to this place, but you should know that ending it here isn’t the way. No matter what has happened, you don’t have to let end this way.” He was silent just sitting next to her. She was silent because the tears were building up in her eyes, her throat was swelling and she knew that if she tried to speak right at that moment she would break down and lose her courage.
He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I am not going to stop you but if this is what you choose.” His hand left her shoulder and he turned and jumped down. She spoke then “That’s not what I am here for...” she could hear the gravel stop crunching. She took a deep breath turn and got down off the fence. She knew he could see the tears rolling down her face. He was still there looking at her, his face hidden in the shadows created by the hood. “ I am here for this” she open her hand showing him the black ring box in her hand before she turned and threw the box over the ledge into the night. “I am here to say goodbye to an old life and move on with a new one.” When she turned around he was gone... and so was the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment