--The entirety of this story, including, but not limited to, the scenario / plot, the characters, and the writing itself, is completely original, and was written by no one other than myself (unless otherwise stated).--

--This little story (like many future ones, I predict) was written for the NarutoFan Forums Weekly Flashfic competition. This week's prompt was 'Monster'. Angst, anyone? xD--

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The familiar, ethereal radiance of dusk had already cast its sinister glow upon the bridge by the time the visitor arrived; the soft footsteps upon cobblestone echoing in small shuffles whilst they made their somber march towards the site.

She reaches a specific section of the elegant chest-high balustrade bordering the overpass, arms wrapped around herself for warmth as a light breeze picks up from the southern end. The untamed river coursing through the archway beneath her was as violent as she remembered it; its purpose, as faultless as it was to her once before.

This was how he passed. It was in this spot where he made his final decision.

Another stilting gust of wind chills her to the bone as her stoic gaze upon the coursing river falls intent.

Lives must be cherished and appreciated while they last, for the length of our existences on earth are limited; our time here, a grain within a sea of sand, a star within a limitless constellation. Ironic, how such an ideal was only realized when the one she cared for most chose to prematurely end their own time.

The memories of mistakes long past: monsters in her head, acerbic voices of lament which never seemed to cease their haunting drone. She struggles against them, but they leer, and they beckon, ruthless in the face of shame, indifferent to sincere remorse.

She regrets not being there when he needed her the most. She regrets choosing appointments over outings, meetings over vacations, a business call over family. If she had been there, as close to her younger brother as they were when they were children, she might not have lost him to the shadows, to something as escapable as the despair of loneliness.

He was here, yet he was not.

Both within her grasp and beyond her reach.

The rushing water flows beneath the bridge as a few inches and a sharp lean separate her from the edge.

It takes every fiber of her moral being to resist repeating his mistake just to make the guilt stop lingering, to make her heart stop hurting. She holds firm to the belief that redemption lies within forgiveness, and she knows one of these days, one of these anniversaries, she will grow to forgive herself, and learn to live life by the lesson he had died to teach her.

She steps back from the ledge and makes her way home.

And the monsters are silenced.