Tearing Paper

Riverside

It was sunset.

Ella gazed at the shades of peach and purple that painted the reflection of the river she was standing by. Her naked hands, laying on the surface of the iron bridge separating them, felt cold, but she stayed there for quite a while. She had found it hard to leave ever since the place caught her attention on her walk back home.

Why was this place so familiar?

Everything around her was beautiful. The air blew just with a gentle coldness that signified how early autumn had arrived this year. But the inside of her head was pounding—at first, subtly, but louder and louder each time she stared into the river beneath her.

How deep was that river?

It was a beautiful scenery in the middle of that busy road, but it was always so calm—and Ella knew still water ran deep.

Something caused her to shiver so badly that she felt like falling. She gripped the edges of the bridge tighter to keep her feet standing, but the harder she tried, the more she felt like a film was being rolled out inside her head, rewinding blurry scenes like a tormenting nightmare.

“I really love you, Nate.”

“I’m sorry, Ella.”

“Then I guess I’m sorry too…”

“Miss? Are you okay?” She wondered if the voice she heard was part of her dream. Very hazily, she saw a young man with pale blonde hair and a very foreign accent.

“I—I… My head hurts,” Ella told him with the strength she got left before her eyes shut and the world faded to black.

-

Dianne got no time to enjoy the splendid evening view around her.

All she knew was that she had to run.

She did not know where. She did not know what she would do if somebody recognized her as the famous portrait spread all over town. She did not know whether the people of the town thought she was a criminal. She just kept running.

She muttered a curse as she dug inside her coat pocket. It was empty.

She did not bring her poem book with her. Hell, she did not bring anything.

She must be crazy. What would Nate think about her? He only asked a question innocently and she lost herself, running away.

But her thoughts were drowned as she saw some people crowding an area by the bridge. A girl seemed to be carried into an ambulance with a lot of people asking one another what happened. A blonde-haired guy stood closest to the ambulance, repeatedly shaking his head when some medical professionals inquired him.

“This can’t be…”

Dianne’s heartbeat raced as she ran closer to the crowd that suddenly seemed so far away. She broke through the crowd and forced her lungs to exhale when she realized that her eyes couldn’t have fooled her.

“Devon!”