Stories with Friends

Building Bridges

Prompt: A character is out late at night for a reason you can make up when he/she/it sees someone standing at the edge of the bridge. Write what happens next

I just couldn't think. My thoughts were frozen and I couldn't breathe. I needed to walk around, take a deep breath or something. I couldn't be stuck in my house all day; that would drive me insane.
I ran my hands through my long, sleepless blonde hair and picked up my keys.
~Let's go for a drive~
I was already on the road when it finally crossed my mind to check the time. The blue lights on my dashboard said it was 2:30. I looked out my window and the sky told me it was not in the afternoon. It was dark outside, obviously, and the moon was full, so it gave off a yellow glow.
Even though I was driving, my mind didn't clear up. It continued to ramble on and on with no logical sense at all, as if it was going crazy. I guess you could say I could actually think, but I couldn't focus.
Sometimes on quiet nights like this, I don't function properly. If I'm idle for too long, I start to think too much, which leads me to being lost in my own thoughts because I can't understand them. Doing things helps me focus. I get my greatest ideas when I'm doing dishes, or washing my car. It's always when I need to do something, that I end up doing nothing.
I was crossing a bridge now. A very empty bridge. It's not as if I expected to see anyone on it. I mean, it is two in the morning after all.
There was a street lamp on the edge of the bridge, whose lights were dimly lit and occasionally flickering. Then I saw two lamps, then three, and on the fourth one, I noticed something odd. It seemed like a figure at first but I didn't pay any mind to it. It was just my nerves. I've been up for a while now and I was tired. But the closer I came up to it, the more it looked like a person, this figure by the lamp post. The person was standing on the railing with one hand holding onto the lamp for balance and with the other in their pocket. When I saw this figure of a person, my mind cleared. I could focus, so I stopped. I pulled over to the curb and parked my car. Then I, of course, locked my car; I wasn't going to risk burglary for some person on the street.
The figure of a person was on the other side of the bridge, so I promptly ran over to ~it or him or her.~
"Hi- um, hello!" I called out, with a terribly obvious uneasiness to my voice. The figure didn't seem to notice me, but I did discover one thing: the figure was a man.
"Excuse me...?" I crept closer to the railing of the bridge and looked up at the man standing on top of it. He had wide eyes and a smile in which only one word could describe: Radiance. If it was daylight, the sun would shine off his teeth and would glitter in his eyes. I wasn't quite sure what color his eyes were, but I could assume they were a vivid color, to match the radiance emitting from his face.
I couldn't figure out what he was so happy about, because when I looked down, I only saw the inky waters of the lake.
"Do you see it?" The man asked me. I was so shocked I jumped a bit.
"No, I don't." I replied, the man still not looking at me.
"Why are you up there anyway?" I quickly added in.
"Why are ~you~ up here?" He asked. Now he was looking down on me. A comfortably calm and radiant gaze.
He then added,
"It's two in the morning."
"Well, it's technically two-thirty." Was my reply.
There was a pause.
"You didn't answer my question." I pointed out.
"Neither did you." I heard him say.
He paused,
"Why wouldn't I be up here?"

The man's gaze returned to the water.
I leaned on the railing a bit, looking out at the dull sky, the dull water, and the shimmering man that seemed to have a glow on his face even though he was wearing dark clothing.
"...are you feeling...depressed?...at all?" I slowly asked.
He shook his head, his smile never faltering,
"No."
"How ~have~you been feeling lately?"
"Fantastic."
"Was that sarcasm or smugness?"
The man looked down at me again with an eyebrow arched quizzically.
"Neither,"he replied. I looked back at him with confused intensity.
A corner of his mouth moved up into a smirk,
"Maybe a little smugness."
I wasn't completely aware that I scoffed after that remark.
"So, mister, what I've figured out is that you aren't on this bridge because your depressed, so that leaves me in a less awkward situation-"
"But you haven't figured out my name." He interrupted. I stumbled with words.
"Your name?" I asked.
He nodded,
"Your name is Genevieve, right?"
"Um.. Jennifer- Jen. My name is Jen."
He shrugged with a common smirk,
"I was close enough, wasn't I?"
"Well, I- I mean I guess so...
"What's your name?"
"My name is-" he stopped,
"That would just be too easy." He stated. Another scoff came out of my mouth.
"You want me to guess?"
"Come one, come all and guess my name!" He was laughing now as he turned around on the railing, with his back turned to the lake.
I paced around the light post, pondering for a bit,
"Adam?"
"No"
"What about Nigel?"
"Not even close."
"Eugene."
"Are you even trying?" He crouched down on the railing,
"It's so obvious."
I turned so my head was even with his. Without moving my gaze, I said,
"Calvin."
His witty smirk was quickly removed from his face. I had caught this sly dog off guard.
"Wait, how did you get it? It wasn't actually obvious."
"Oh, but wasn't it?" I had the upper hand now. What Calvin didn't realize was that I had seen his name tag hidden beneath his jacket.
"You know, you shouldn't put yourself on such a high pedestal." I remarked.
Calvin looked at me with this bewildered, wide eyed smile on his face. He sat down on the bridge's railing and held out his hand toward me.
I took
it. A jolt shook through my body, like I'd been mildly electrocuted. It was startling, but not what you'd expect from a handshake.
"Nice to meet you Jen. I'm Calvin. Thanks for getting me off this bridge." And with those words, he hopped off the bridges railing and now stood in front of me.
"Do you want to have coffee with me tomorrow?"