I
We were walking along the cliff, throwing rocks out onto the water. We had come for a swim, but it got dark faster than we thought it would. She being more adventurous than I, still wanted to race across the gloomy water; claiming that the crescent moon had enough light for us to see as we crossed to the other side. She even stripped down to her swimsuit and started edging herself down to the usual diving place.
"You really gonna let me go out there on my own?"
She paused, looking down the intense drop; had it always been this daunting?
"I could get hurt y'know."
Oh, I knew. The cliff was at least 40 feet high from where she was standing, and we couldn't see the bottom.
She could get hurt... But I wasn't about to let that happen.
I started taking off my clothes and creeped down the precarious wall of the cliff. As I climbed down, I noticed that I could hear the crickets. I listened closer; I could hear the breeze rustling the leaves in the trees at least 50 yards away from where the edge of the cliff was. The waves crashing onto the rocks usually masked such delicate noises.
Unusual.
I got down to the ledge where she was and stood next to her; waiting for her signal. Noticing that I was shaking, she looked at me and told me not to worry.
"This is going to be fun," she paused to ruffle up my hair, "you need a little danger in your life; what? Are you gonna tell your grandkids wild stories about your stamp collection?."
I managed a lighthearted chuckle; just to make it seem like I wasn't that much of a stick in the mud. Truth be told, I was scared out of my mind; the fact that I was even in the presence of this girl terrified me.
She looked at me and grabbed my hand.
"Three, two, one…"
II
I had grown up in the nice part of town; starch-white fences, manicured lawns, etc. Never did get out much; I didn't like my fellow peers enough to hang out with them during the standard eight to three school day let alone enough to go down to the pier or tag along to go the Soda Shoppe with them.
She had grown up on the opposite end of the country; the "Wild West". A total mystery that I was immediately fascinated with, Came waltzing into class one day and sat next to me.
"How's it goin', my name's…"
III
"Bridgett!"
I waded in the ominous water; praying that she'd emerge any second.
"Bridgett!!!"
I saw a figure floating toward me.
"Bridgett?" I asked tenderly.
Her eyes were closed and she was smiling.
"Wasn't that fun?"
I finally caught my breath and started laughing. Yes. Yes, it was fun.
"Well, it may have been fun for you, but I have a headache," she exclaimed.
So, I pulled her to shore and laid on the soft sand; staring at her. Without any hesitation, I reached out and combed through her tangled hair. She smiled and closed her eyes. I traced all over her face; her eyes, her cheeks, her lips. I leaned in to give her the kiss I had wanted to give her since the day I met her.
At the very moment my lips met hers, I felt an immense pain in my chest. I didn't have
control of my body and a blinding light from an unknown source grew larger until eventually…
IV
Sunlight broke through the dense fog of the October morning. A group of teenagers ran into the police department out of breath; saying they had seen two bodies on the rocks of the base of the cliff. Further inspection showed that the bodies were in fact the bodies of two young residents; one boy and one girl.
The girl was unrecognizable; lacerations to the face caused by landing headfirst on the jagged rocks. She was pronounced dead on impact.
The boy suffered multiple broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Cause of death; bleeding out in a matter of minutes.
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