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| picture credit: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Abandoned-Snake-Bridge-I-127340365 |
We’re on
the 2nd floor in a house of unknown ownership, lounging on pillows
laying on the floor against a long, bare white wall; a wall that is chipped and
marked, a carpet of indeterminate shades.
On either side of this open space, moody grey skies slowly succumb to
the darkness of the night through big steel-framed windows. Streaky white curtains billow listlessly in
the breeze, blowing the passing minutes into a lost and far-away land. Every now and again strangers drift up the staircase,
lean against the banister, maybe a quick nod in our direction, more often than
not, eyes downcast and intent on their pursuit.
Here we spend endless hours in the numbing haze of fragrant smoke, seekers
of a common distraction, a wordless companionship of inane conversations and missing
moments.
An hour
passed, or it could have been a day, for time doesn’t live in this house. Stay forever we could not, and soon we found
ourselves walking deserted, nameless streets in a comfortable stillness as the
first rays of sunlight played warmly on our backs. The take-away coffee and toasted sandwich
could have been a lavish meal from a royal banquet in this fresh and silent
dawn. And still we kept on walking. ‘Till the twittering birds were pushed into
the distance by the sound of rushing water from somewhere to the north.
It seemed
like a good idea to head that way, maybe find a way closer to the river bank
and just sit and watch for a while… We
found the disused road that led us to an old arch bridge where grass and weeds
have broken through the old cement surface.
But it was solid, and it had a stone railing alongside the pedestrian
walkway, aged and weathered and covered in moss in places. Surefooted and with lightness of step you
playfully leapt on this low railing, turned and grinned at me, while you took
in the elevated view. With an
exaggerated bow and extended hand you turned my way again, but your foot found
the moss, and your footing was lost, and you disappeared towards a foreign
below. Time flashed by as I raced to the
spot where your ghost still stood, confusion on your face, staring down at the
cement slabs of the riverbed below, where your body lay inert and lifeless.
It was over
before it began, before help arrived, and chaos replaced the peaceful kiss of
dawn. I stood there long after a stunned
silence returned to this abandoned bridge.
Your ghost and I. Unable to comprehend, unwilling to accept,
incapable of letting go. And we left hand in hand, a wordless companionship in the reluctant silence, away from this place
of dismay.
