A Little String of Hope

Chapter One

“Come on, Zoey! Stop being a baby and walk across the bridge.” Victoria yelled in a convincing tone. She crossed her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow challenging her to go forth.

    “Vic, I don’t think it’s safe too.” Zoey huffed, kicking a rock on the cold sidewalk. Colors danced across the sky at the receiving sun, the day coming to an end.

    “Are you really going to just chicken out like that? It’s a dare! You always finish a dare.” Dylan taunts back. Zoey picks up another rock, examining it as if the small object could take her away from their beady eyes.

    “What if I fall?” She looks to Victoria and Dylan. They both laugh, Dylan putting a hand on her shoulder.

    “Don’t be silly, Zoey. You are not going to fall. I mean, you don’t have to do this. It is just a dare and if you choose not to then we can just go.” Dylan prolonged, trying to sway Zoey’s thoughts. She knew it was a risk, Zoey just didn’t know if she is willing to take it. Her friends dared her to do this and she is known to never let down a dare. But how could she when her life could possibly be meddling with a mouse trap.

    “I- uh, I’ll do it.” Zoey finally muttered. She just can’t let her friends down, they’d never leave her alone about it. Victoria cheered and Dylan smirked, nodding his head in approval.

    “Go ahead then. Let’s see this, I’ll even record it.” Victoria lauded. Zoey took a deep breath and looked up to the sky, silently begging whoever would listen. Her foot hit the gritty cement, marking her last breaths. She then proceeded to climb up the railing, her balance being thrown for only a second, but quickly regaining. That day, Zoey’s heart never skipped so many beats at once, not even the day Cameron had asked her to the school dance. Victoria and Dylan sat with a quiet smirk, knowing that she will chicken out at the last second.

Little did they know that she just wanted to impress them. Zoey began her walk across the railing, slowly but surely. Her breaths became uneven the second her gaze hit the rushing waters below her. Just the way each drop of water collided into the jutting rocks, or maybe it was how that small pebble that her foot knocked off the railing flew down and smashed into a hundred tiny pieces on a rock at the very bottom, gave her goosebumps. Zoey sighed, for she was only halfway there. Maybe she could make it! Maybe she could prove to them that she can do any dare.

Wrong.

Biggest mistake of her life.

Zoey’s foot twisted to the left on a slippery spot of the railing and that was enough for the poor girl too loose her balance and fall forward. She screamed but held onto the part of the railing that her hand had managed to grab. Her wrist screamed in pain and Dylan rushed over, Victoria screeching.

“Zoey! Hold on, I’ll get you.” He reached his arm down for the girl only to be just out of reach, panic starting to kick in. He tried again, and to no avail.

That’s when everything went downhill.

“Zoey I can’t reach you. You have to pull yourself up a bit so that I can get to you.” Dylan growled down to her. He didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to slip off the railing.

“I can’t!” Zoey wailed, fear grasping at her feet and begging to pull her down. She looked back up to him only to see the disappointment on his face. She has to try, she can’t let him down again after falling. Zoey takes another deep breath encouraging herself to do this and she does. She reaches up a bit higher and grazes his hand. Course fate decided to jinx the poor girl and she lost her grip, her body tumbling down to the deathly waters.

“Zoey! No!” Dylan screeches and Victoria runs to the railing, wailing as well. The way the air sped past Zoey’s flailing body seemed as though it tried to calm the hectic girl; how it made her skin tingle and head almost feel light. The rushing waters came in contact with Zoey quicker than she expected, the waves lapping her up.