He turned and walked off the bridge, not away from the edge, but toward a different one. The rain began to lighten. Somewhere, a train whistle blew—not the old tracks, but a new line, running somewhere he’d never been.
The rain on Alex’s face felt different now. It wasn’t cold anymore. It was just water.
He pocketed the phone and looked at the water one last time. For a moment—just a moment—he thought he saw a flash of movement at the river’s bend. A ripple that wasn’t wind. A shape that wasn’t a fish.
“You’d catch me,” Leo said softly. It wasn’t a question. flashback original
“I’m not going to jump,” he said to the empty air.
Leo had laughed so hard he nearly lost his balance, and Alex had grabbed his jacket sleeve. For one electric second, their eyes met. Leo’s were the color of the river—deep green-brown, full of things unsaid.
Alex had inched forward. Not to the edge, but closer. Leo was the only person who could do that—pull him out of his own cautious orbit. They’d been friends since freshman year, a mismatched pair: Alex the accountant-in-training who color-coded his notes, Leo the art major who painted murals on abandoned buildings. He turned and walked off the bridge, not
The voice that answered wasn’t there. It was in his head, a ghost from a Tuesday three years ago.
“Always,” Alex had whispered.
“I’m serious about the job,” Alex had said. “It’s stable. It’s safe.” The rain on Alex’s face felt different now
He pulled out his phone. The screen was wet, but it still worked. He scrolled past Leo’s contact—still saved, still un-deletable—and opened a new message to his boss: “I’m resigning. Effective immediately.”
Alex closed his eyes. The rain became sunlight. The rusted railings became warm, dry wood. And he was there.
“The fall’s better, too.”
Then he typed another, to the community art center downtown: “I’d like to apply for the teaching position. I don’t have a degree in art, but I know someone who did. And I can learn.”
“It’s a cage,” Leo had replied, not unkindly. He pointed downstream. “See that? The water doesn’t ask for permission. It just goes. Be the water, Alex.”