At The River's Crossing

Chapter 1

I didn't know what to do. I had really hoped he wasn't serious, but there he stood out on the frozen river, dressed only in thin pajamas and holding a bowling ball above his head.

"Please... I don't understand what you want me to do," I pleaded. "Why don't we go inside and we can talk about it?"

"No. I'm done talking." His voice was level and calm. He had clearly made up his mind.

"Why did you call me out here then?"

"I needed a witness. They need to know this wasn't an accident. I want them to know they did this. I trust you to let them know." With his final word, he threw the ball down into the ice.

I saw him fall before I heard the sound. He fell deftly straight down. The only sign of a struggle was the splash from the ice breaking.

I lunged forward in a desperate attempt to grab him, but I was too far away and too late.

I lay on the ice with my hands in the freezing water, the cold seeping into my gloves and coat. I knew I should care about the water creeping up my arms as it absorbed, but I couldn't understand what had just happened. How could he be gone just like that? In an instant, he was ripped away from me.

I felt the ice move too late to do anything about it. It cracked underneath me, and I fell into the frigid water.

I did struggle. I fought desperately to stay alive. I clawed at the ice trying to get my screaming muscles to lift me out, but my gloves slipped uselessly against the icy surface of the river. I tried to scream for help but swallowed lungfuls of water instead.

It's not like there was anyone to hear me anyway. The only person around had already left me, and I was about to join him. He chose to leave, and I didn't. My love for him had dragged me down into the icy depths.

As I sunk down into the dark I couldn't feel my limbs at all. I didn't know if I was still trying to swim back up, because I couldn't see what I was doing. The darkness around me started to fill my head, and I found myself thinking that if I had just not loved him I would still be alive. But I knew that was a pointless thought. If I could go back, I would have loved him again. I would always choose love.

-

I woke up on the riverbank. I looked down and saw that I was still in my wet clothes, but I couldn't feel the cold anymore. I looked around and saw the snow and ice covering everything in sight. Was I dead?

I stood up and immediately felt pain in my limbs. They burned from the struggle to get out of the ice. So was I alive? I looked around for any signs of life. How had I gotten out of the river? I know that I had sunk. I did not pull myself up.

My eyes rested on a shadowy silhouette sitting by the riverbank in the dark. I walked over cautiously, squinting to make out any features. Even as I got closer I still couldn't get a good look at them. There wasn't much moonlight, but all the light from the heavens bounced off the snow and I could make out most things around us.

They didn't move or react as I got closer. When I was standing in front of them and I still couldn't see anything but a shadowy figure, I started to think that maybe it was just a dark shape that looked like a person. What was it made of to not have any ice or snow on it? As I stared at the shape, leaning closer and squinting to get a better look, it started to move. It turned its head up at me, and on its empty black face, piercing blue eyes opened.