He watched her, from the cliff above, as she lent dangerously over the rusted railing of the pier, the frigid night air whipping her golden hair across her angelic face.
He watched from afar fascinated by her, what is she doing? he wondered to himself. This was the first time in his life that he was unsure of a persons intentions.
Then to his amazement she placed her foot on the lowest rung of the rail and proceeded to climb over the treacherous edge. Her auspicious her falling over her alluring face as she concentrated on her footing.
Once she was completely over the other side of the railing, she faces herself away from the pier towards the endless sea or roaring waves. white knuckled, she begins to lean towards the ocean alarmingly.
up until that moment he had stood rigid jaw slack watch her, but now he ran.
He ran so fast he appeared to be floating.
He ran to her because he was afraid.
Afraid that she might fall… or worse,
Jump
As she leant over the edge, she felt free, she wasn't thinking about anything but the freezing air, her numb nose and fingers, the waves smashing against the rocks below and the endless sea before her.
Her mind was finally clear.
Suddenly a voice interrupts her thoughts.
“miss?” it said in a barley there whisper, if she didn't know better she would have thought it was the wind, or a figment of her imagination.
But she knew it was him. It was always him.
Without turing back she replied “yes?” with such simplicity, as if nothing was out of the ordinary was happening.
“you..” his voice strained. He cleared his throat and tried again “you do realise if you fall you wont survive. that water is below freezing and theres no way back to shore and thats if you manage to dodge the rocks.” worry is evident in his voice.
“why yes” she pauses a moment and then continues “why do you ask?” she questions turning back looking at him for the first time.
The wind played with the mop of curls on his head and she had the urge to run her fingers through it. His lean body was taut and positioned to pounce and grab her at any moment, she smiled at the thought. She noticed the scar on the left side of his chin for the first time.
“I’m quite concerned about your safety. if you fall, it wont be pleasant.” he states, staring at her with astonishment. he had never met anyone who could baffle him as much as she could.
“or do you wish to die?” he questions, hoping he’s wrong.
A small smirk spreads across her rose petal lips “no”
Her smirk fades, and a neutral looks appears on her alluring features “not tonight anyway”. She turns to face the roaring ocean once again.
Any normal person would think she's crazy, but not him. He thought she was compelling.
“then, if i may ask, what are you doing?” he inquires, so captivated by her that the heaven could open up and he wouldn't even notice.
“i needed to clear my head, stare death straight in the face” she states matter-of-factly.
silence.
he is left speechless by her answer.
After a few minutes she breaks through the silence with a simple sentence that only adds to his fascination.
“i could do it, you know” she tilts her head down towards the water, her hair cascading around her face forming a barrier so that he can no longer see her prominent features.
“do what?” he asks hoping for some answers to the endless amount of questions running through his mind.
“fall” she states, his definition of the word was far different from hers.
Before he has time to even process her answer, she lets go of the railing with her right hand and swings herself around to be facing him with her back to the blue abyss.
This sudden action of hers makes him scurry forward, in a failed attempt to catch her from a fall that wasn't going to happen.
They were so close.
Noses almost touching.
His hands over hers, forcing her to clutch the rail.
breath intertwined, dancing in the air between them.
nothing but the rail operating them.
he wanted her at that moment, he wanted so badly to kiss her.
then she spoke, ever so softly “its true what i said. People make life out to be so difficult to change. but the truth is you can change your life with one simple move, you don't HAVE to do anything. Have you ever just thought about it?” she asks, but gives him no time to answer. “You can change your whole life in mere seconds, if you really wanted to.”
“you could put yourself in a life or death situation” she takes one hand off the railing to gesture at herself, he quickly grabs her hand and places it gently back on the rail.
she smiles at him “you could take a risk”
she continued “do something spontaneous and passionate. people are always complaining about how terrible their lives are or how much they want something they cant have and quite frankly I'm sick of it. If their lives are really so terrible and if they want it so bad, then why don’t they just take these chances and do something about it?” she spoke so passionately and suddenly it all made sense.
After that night he thought long and hard about what she had said and he made a decision.
A decision that would change his life forever.
