Saved

It was a night like no other when I met him. As her dark brown eyes gazed into his steel grey ones, she felt the exhilaration of the night fading away. Those eyes trapped her, unwilling to let her leave they pleaded for help, mercy, but above all love. The lost emotions begged to be free, bound by the walls created by the holder.

And in the blink on an eye, he was gone. Those beautiful eyes faded into the darkness below.

The start to the night was an unusual one for her. I was new in the city and had decided to explore it for a while. I roamed around, visiting parks, libraries even the field near my school. But nothing felt welcoming to me. It all felt distant. The bright city scared me, the lights blinding me. Lights are supposed to bring warmth and joy but all this place did was intimidating me. It felt cold, unnatural even. I wanted to run away, away from all of this. And so I did.

I started running, leaving the lights behind. I ran without direction, without purpose. And so I reached the bridge. It was here when I felt most at home. 

It was dark, abandoned. Homely. I sat down in the middle, letting the cool breeze brush past me. 

Five minutes passed.... no car rushed by. I lied down. The cool tarmac sucked away all my fears. I just laid there, looking at the twinkling stars feeling content. I was happy being there, all by myself, just me and my thoughts. 

I thought about how much my life had change since the day I moved away from Queensbury. How my heart had been broken when Jerry had told me we couldn't go out anymore. Because he didn't love me anymore. How my heart had stung, as I tried to drown my tears away into hopeless romantic novels, hoping one day my prince charming would come and sweep me off my feet. 

The memories came back, as I remembered our last kiss, a simple peck, before he had looked deeply into my eyes and had professed his now changed feelings towards me. He told me he didn't think of me as he used to. That he had somehow drifted away. Changed.

I could feel the tears coming back, as I remembered later meetings. His stories about some new girl he had met at the cafe. How he had asked her out. How he had grown to realised how much he loved her. He had never told me he loved me.

And that’s when I heard it. The soft footsteps. They were quiet, but in the silence they cut through like glass. I remained where I was, not wanting to disturb another person’s personal moment. There was a stop in the footsteps. Some crinkling of paper, and then sobbing.

The quiet sobs hurt me. I could feel the sadness. The sobs stopped for a while but then started again more ferocious than ever.

I couldn't bear it anymore. I got up, to go comfort this person. 

As I rose up I saw no one. I started feeling scared, frightened as to where the sobs were coming from. And then I saw those eyes. Hanging above the railings of the bridge. His eyes met mine and I realised what he was about to do.

He leant backwards as I rushed forwards to grab him. I felt his hands in mine just as his feet left the ledge. 

His eyes pleaded me to let go. Mine

  Were filled with strong determination to save him. We just stayed there for a while, our eyes battling the results of the boy’s life. I hadn't seen his face nor known who he was but in my heart I knew I had to save him.

My arm started going numb. Blood stopped rushing to it. The boy must have realised that because he tugged at it once and my weak arm let him go. 

As I retracted my arm, I felt the blood rush back and I heard a small hushed splash.

Time seemed to stop as I realised, that the life of someone, a someone whose eyes and sobs had told me so much had gone away. And to a certain extent it was all my fault.