A strange passion

Passion 10: Jump

She was walking in his shadow. She ran with her arms outstretched trying to grab hold of something solid. Something real. He didn’t look back at her. He kept moving forward. His attention was somewhere else.

At first she was terrified. She couldn’t stand the thought of being left behind. Being forgotten. But now she was simply numb as she stopped and watched the shadow of a man disappear before her.

She knew it would be coming soon. The purge. It was like the calm before the storm. And then eventually the spiral of non-existence surrounded her and she welcomed it with open arms. She fell with her arms outstretched and her eyes closed as her existence - her total being was annihilated.

There was no evidence. The purge was complete. If she wanted to come back, she would have to start from scratch. Like a little baby learning everything it needs to know all over again.

They found her later. She was standing on the bridge railing. They were terrified. "Don’t worry." She said. "I won’t jump. I’m too scared. What if it’s not deep enough?"

Someone understood and jumped before her. She watched in fear as the girl jumped into the water beneath the bridge and her head came up looking back up at her telling her there was nothing to fear.

"It’s deep." The girl called up to her. "Jump."

"Deep for you maybe." She called back and turned away. "But not for me." She said as she walked away from the bridge.

Later, she came again to that bridge and found herself on the railing. "Why am I here?" She wondered. "I won’t jump." She said and turned away but her eye caught something down in the water.

"Jump." A man said below her. He was in the water looking up at her. Her shadow covered his face and she couldn’t make out the details behind the man.

"How do I know its deep enough?" She called down to her suitor.

"It’s deep." He assured treading water.

She shook her head. "I can’t do it." She told herself. "This water isn’t made for me."

"I’ll catch you." He called up. She was shocked. "This isn’t something you think about. Just jump." He said.

She turned screaming and ran towards the edge of the bridge and flung herself off. This wasn’t the purge. It was the opposite of the purge. This was… deep. That deep. Deeper than deep. The purge couldn’t reach her here.

She jumped and fell. She is still falling. She doesn’t know when she’ll reach his arms or the water. It will take her years to complete the fall. And she doesn’t know what the aftermath will be… but hopefully he didn’t lie. Hopefully the water is deep.