2

Passing her, I took my usual seat on the bench nearby, pulled out my laptop, and began my daily routine of combing through emails. Hoping to try and get some stuff done before I reached the office where I would be overburdened with more mundane tasks. Suddenly, I was pulled out of my concentration by the sound of metal cracking away. I took a quick glimpse in the direction the girl once was only to realize, she was nowhere to be seen. The bridge’s rail had given way and was hanging over the river side, barely attached.

Throwing my belongings to the side, I rushed over to the edge where the girl might have tumbled in. As I peered over I was relieved to see that she was still there, attempting to maintain her grip to the side of the bridge.

“Hang on! I’m gonna try and pull you up.” I said as I extended my hand out to grab her arm.

I reached out, took a hold of her arm and slowly began to pull her up. The clanking of metal rang out as the balance of the platform we were on had shifted. Still holding on to her, I  began to slide closer towards the edge.

“Yeah sure, I was planning on letting go.” She responded with a shaky and sarcastic tone of voice. Well at least she's okay enough to crack jokes in this situation.

My mind had quickly swapped from being calm and collected to frantically looking for anything else that could help. Time for me had now changed from the normal stream of mundane tasks to a desperate crawl. I was considering all the options that could occur. How can we land? Will we be alright? Am I going to die? I don’t want to die. There were still so many things that I wanted to do, places to see, people to meet, things to accomplish. That might all be for naught now. Okay, no, I need to forget these thoughts and focus on the situation we’re in. If we try to land like this we’re both done for, but I might be able to increase her chance of surviving if I take the brunt of the fall. I have to do what I can to protect her. If this is the last choice that I make, then I will have at least helped save one person.

“Why does this have to happen now?!” The words spewed out of my mouth as my eyes darted around to find something to hold onto. Spotting a piece of railing, I reached out trying to take hold, but my hand kissed the railing as it slipped past. There was nothing else that I could grab.

I steeled myself for what was to come. As we descended to the rushing water below, I pulled her into me and turned my back to the water. Doing my best I acted as a cushion to help break her fall. First there was the initial splash of water and then a sharp pain pierced the back of my head as I lost consciousness.