Over the Bridge

They had been dating since 8th grade when Kara had made the first move and kissed Cali. They avoided each other for a week before both girls finally admitted their feelings and started dating.

Cali proposed over a bridge after they graduated from university. They were going to get married after they both achieved their masters degree. They were going to adopted a child and own a nice little house in a safe neighborhood for their child.

That dream vanished with the words that her would have soon to be mother-in-law spoke. The words seemed to echo in her thoughts destroying and ripping her apart. Tears trailing down her cheeks like acid that left her burning scars and raw, throaty screams flowed out of her mouth as Cali fell to the floor sobbing.

"She's dead." Kara's mother spoke, her voice raspy like she too had been screaming for hours. "I'm so sorry Cali,"

"Stop," Cali begged, choking and grasping at her shirt over her heart, squeezing it so tightly she could feel her blood flow stop. Her breathing rushed and panicked. Black dots danced across her vision as she gasped for air, trying so desperately to stop her mind, to numb the pain that she felt. "Please stop,"

"Calixta?" The mother of Kara kneeled down trying to embrace Cali, trying to calm her, but failing to do so, as Cali forced herself away from the embrace.

Cali stood up rushing out the door, her bare feet pounding against the snow. Kara's mother screamed behind her, begging her to stay, to stop, but Cali didn't. She continued to run, the thin, icy air whipped across her face, the snow burned her feet, but she still didn't stop. She needed to get away from that house. She couldn't stand the memories that flooded into her head as she ran farther away.

She only stopped when she arrived over a bridge. The same bridge she was at when she proposed to Kara. The same bridge that they had both walked over that morning, before heading back home to make breakfast and part ways for the day.

She allowed this to happen, she caused this. If she only begged her fiancée to call in sick, Kara wouldn't have passed by the café shop before arriving to work, she wouldn't have been stuck in the café when the unstable man had walked in with a gun threating to kill anyone who spoke.

Kara, majoring in psychology, had found the need to try to talk him out of it, only resulting in him shooting her first. The police had told Kara's mother that she had died a quick and painless death, but it was all Cali's fault, she should have never allowed Kara to leave after breakfast.

Cali screamed out into the darkness, her hands wrapping around the cold metal bars that separated the edge of the bridge and the rapid waters of the river below.

How could she go home now? She would only be surrounded by silence and emptiness. She would never feel Kara's presence, never feel her hair, her lips, her warm hands. She would never hear her laugh that echoed through the house, bringing it to life. She would never hear her voice or that special tone that Kara would use to ask questions whenever she thought something was wrong.

How could Cali go to Kara's mother? What would she say? That it was her fault that her daughter was dead? That Cali didn't stop her from leaving in the morning?

Cali collapsed once again, tears pouring out, breathing irregularly. Her skin burning from the cold, while she clasped her handed against her chest, trying to dull the pain.

She didn't want to imagine what it would be like to wake up without Kara for the first time in 5 years, to cook and eat alone, or to get home after work to be greeted by an empty and quiet house.

Cali stood up again, she wouldn't have to know what that felt like, because she wasn't going to allow that, she wouldn't live long enough to feel what it was like to truly be alone. She wouldn't live long enough to see the sun raise again, because if the pain didn't kill her, she would.

Her numb feet inched forward, her eyes scanning the rapid waters that folded and crashed together beneath her. Her hands out stretched grabbing the metal bars once again and hoisting herself up.

She sat on the top bar for a moment staring down, her feet dangling loosely and carelessly. She leaned forward, desperate to be gone, to stop feeling.

There was a shout on her left side, someone shouting at her to be safe.

She took deep breathes, as she heard loud, rushing footsteps nearing her. She closed her eyes, taking in every sound but that only urged her to join Kara, because those noises would never be the same without her.

"Wait! Stop! No! Please!" a young man yelled, running towards her, trying to save her, trying to reach her before she jumped.

She felt infinite, a sudden rush of adrenaline surging through her body as she allowed herself to fall forward, gravity doing it's job and pulling her down to the cold, dangerous waters.

"No!" the man yelled, arriving only seconds late, his hands grabbing the cold metal bars, as he let out a cry. Leaning forward, he saw her body crashing into the chaotic water below.

It was okay though, because Calixta would soon be with her lover. She would soon be with Kara and that was all that mattered.