Witness.

Prologue:

"Kim!" I yell and laugh at the same time. "Are you sure there's no train coming today?"

Kim is already halfway across the bridge, laughing and skipping. We're not laughing because something funny is going on, we're laughing because it just feels light and we feel careless; or at least, that's how I feel.

I'm so far behind Kim because this bridge has gaps between the blocks of wood, and the fact that the only thing under is a shallow lake that has cement at the bottom doesn't help. Or at least, Kim told me there was cement. Sometimes she just tricks me for the fun of it. I hate that, the feeling of being dumb. But there's hardly any more appearances of Mean Kim since we got on spring break.

I steady my arms away from me and watch my feet cross across the rickety bridge even though I know I shouldn't look down, and this bridge carries trains so it will have no trouble carrying two teenage girls.

Kim had jumped right on the bridge at first and said, "Amelia! This is so much fun!" I had started walking on the first plank when I felt a little scared. It didn't feel safe, and when KIm saw my hesitation she laughed and asked, "Is someone scared?" I had hastily replied with "No!" trying to make her think I wasn't the wimp she had always accused me of being.

Kim stops where she is, which is a little over the halfway mark and begins twirling around, doing pirouhettes and all the ballet stuff.  Kim always stuck with ballet, whereas I quit and decided that riverdancing was my thing. It wasn't. She would always talk about how it helped your body and would show off every moment she could. But it was okay, because she was so good at it.

I laugh at the goofy expression on her face as she starts singing really loudly, and I momentarily forget my fear of being on the bridge while I join in the popular dance song she is now belting from her lungs.

The tune changes and it shifts from the teeny bopper tune, to some old show tune. We both start dancing wildly and I feel like I'm on top of the world, ignoring the almost patronizing glare the lake is giving us below.

We join hands and dance around on the bridge, until we hear it:

The train.

Kim's eyes are wide open and panicking and I feel my chest tighten. My heart starts pounding. I realize that I have three options: A) I can jump off the bridge into the water, B) I can hold onto the rail at the side, but that doesn't look safe because even if you have a foot sticking out, you'll be swept into the train and die possibly, or C) stand and wait for death to come. I evaluate these options in a split second and run to the fence, jumping over it and into the water. I feel the air whipping around me as I make the fall, and my heart is almost jumping out of my chest. Kim said that trains don't normally come on Tuesdays on spring breaks, and we shouldn't be worried.

I hit the water and am greeted with ice cold temperatures and I sink further quickly and find that the cement bottom part was real. I land on my wrist, and in that second I'm pretty sure everything can hear the crack of my arms as it fully reaches the bottom.

I'm trying to swim up without moving it too much and I just feel shock. I know that I'm not processing this and that I must be going into shock because I still feel like this isn't happening. I feel tears running down my cheeks at the pain, and I barely yell, "Kim!" and get no answer.

Where was she anyway?! I never saw her jump into the water, but that was probably because I was too preoccupied with getting off the bridge. Kim's afraid of the water and it could be maybe that she jumped a bit after me and hasn't come up yet.

Then, I get a terrible thought: What if she hit her head on the cement and got a skull injury? I feel my pulse quicken and my chest tighten even more. But wait, wouldn't her body be floating up? Or a big pool of blod mixed in with water, clearly visible? They're horrible thoughts, but I need to be rational.

I look up at the bridge, and I can barely make out a hand drooping over the side.

"Kim!" I call out louder than the last time. ''I think I broke my arm, help!"  and she doesn't respond. She could be unconscious, so I might just have to get out of here by myself.

I do a half version of the doggy paddle and walk up to the side of the bridge. That's when I see Kim's arm, her leg, and her insides scattered around. She was so afraid of the water she must have held onto the rail.

My best friend since third grade is dead.

And I was here to watch it all.

,..................

So this was the first preview of my new story! I hope you like it, I worked really hard on it! Comment! Rate! Share!