The Girl on The Bridge Part 1

As she walked along the bridge, Bethany felt the coolness of the summer night caress her cheeks. The cold air almost feels as if it were a welcoming embrace into the void. She continues walking, anxiously looking over the edge and down into the strong currents of the river below her. It could all be finished so quickly, that cold sting I feel on my cheeks would flood my entire body as I hit the water; then, it would be done. No more pain, no more suffering, no more anything. Suddenly, Bethany was awoken from her reverie by the sound of an animal, screeching as though it's life depended on it. When she looked over the other side of the bridge, she saw a large dog, it looked like a mix between a golden retriever and a border collie, barking shrilly while standing on a rock, nearly in the middle of the river.

Without even giving herself time to think, Bethany rushed to the end of the bridge, and down the side of the hill towards the river. Near the river, she saw a woman who looked petrified. The woman waved her arms in the air "Geo, geo!" She called, but the dog could only bark back weakly. Without speaking a single word to the other woman, Bethany kicked off her shoes, hiked up her dress and began walking fearlessly into the river. She felt the sharpness of the rocks cutting into her bare feet, but she didn't care. The pain in her feet had been nothing compared to the immense pain she had been feeling in her heart. She hears the woman shriek from behind her, "hey, be careful, PLEASE. You don't have to do this!" But Bethany kept walking. She shut out the sounds and the pain. She reached a portion of the river where her feet could barely touch the ground. But she kept going. She swam, doing her best not to let the river take her too far from Geo, which she had now learned was the dogs name. She felt broken, hopeless, but in this moment, she had a purpose. As she got closer to Geo, the water began to get just shallow enough for her legs to touch the ground. Geo licked her face and yelped nervously. Exhausted, Bethany grabbed onto Geo's harness and pulled him with her the entire way back to the woman on the shore. Bethany didn't think that this trip across the river could get any more tiresome, but fighting to bring Geo back to shore alongside herself felt like it may be too much for her. Making it as far as she could, she put all of her strength into pushing Geo back toward his owner. And then it all went black.

Bethany awoke with a sharp pain in her head, it also felt as though her face was being wiped with a warm washcloth. It felt nice. When she opened her groggy eyes, she was looking up at the woman and her dog who she had just saved. Geo was giving her excited licks of gratitude all over her face. Shocked Bethany shot up, being swiftly reminded of her head injury. She winced and the woman gasped, "don't move too quickly please, you're already greatly injured because of me. Thankfully, you made it close enough that I could run in and grab you. Even Geo tried helping by pulling on your dress," she giggled. "We are both so grateful for what you have done for us. You saved Geo, my best friend. I don't know how I could ever repay you... Can I just ask, why? Why did you go into the river and risk your life for a random stranger and her dog?"

TO BE CONTINUED...