Note: What if the bridge to Terabithia could link parallel worlds? This is a one-shot: In one world, Leslie drowned in Lark Creek. In another, Jess was the one who died. Both are traumatized by the loss of not only their best friend, but the one that they were in love with, too. When two worlds collide, is it possible for things that you thought were gone forever to come back? I hope you guys like this! Please review - it's my first one-shot, so be nice!
Our World:
Jess was secretly thrilled at Miss Edmund's offer, and it wasn't because he had never been to the museum. No, the prospect of being with his favorite teacher, even if only for a little while, was enticing. But…shouldn't he ask Leslie to come, too?
Jess glanced at the old Perkins' place, his eyes lingering on Leslie's new home, an internal struggle going on in his mind. After a few moments, he snapped back to reality and decided not to mention Leslie to Miss Edmunds. Surely Leslie wouldn't mind - surely she'd been to that ole' museum so many times that she wouldn't want to go.
"I'm home!" Jess called, bounding through the door of his house. It was eerily quiet for a Saturday afternoon - where was everybody? He went on to the living room to find his parents and sisters huddled on the sofa and two armchairs. His mother had obviously been crying - her eyes were red and her face was still glistening wet.
"Jess!" she exclaimed, and began to sob again, Jess's father awkwardly comforting her.
"Wh…what happened?" Jess asked warily, looking around at his family's sad faces.
"We thought you were dead," Brenda piped up.
"Dead…?"
"Your friend, Leslie…they found her in the creek after you left. The police think that she must have hit her head on a rock since the rope broke," his dad explained quietly.
"But the rope couldn't have broke!" Jess half-yelled with panic, willing it not to be true. "It's…it's strong - there's no way that it snapped."
"But it did, son. I'm really sorry -"
"NO! You're lying! Leslie's not dead - she's not!" And, with that, Jess ran out of the house, angry tears streaming down his cheeks. But, Leslie, what if you die? Maybelle's words rang through his head no matter how hard he tried to push them away.
Jess ran to the creek and saw that, indeed, the rope had broken. It hung from the tree limp and lifeless - the magic was gone. Jess collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his hands. Who cared that Terabithia's beautiful magic was gone? When Leslie died, Terabithia died with her.
Alternate World:
"Leslie! Judy and I are going to the book store. Do you want to come?" Bill asked, poking his head in Leslie's bedroom.
"I'll be ready in a minute," she replied without hesitation, a grin spreading across her features. She got up and pulled on her jacket, ready to go, when a single thought crossed her mind - Jess. Leslie could ask Jess if he wanted to go, too. It would only take a second - his house was, after all, one very short sprint away.
But, truthfully, half of Leslie didn't want Jess to come. She felt bad for thinking such things about her best friend, but Leslie spent fewer and fewer minutes with her parents as the years went by - every second with them was precious - not to be wasted.
She walked over to her bedroom's one, large window and looked at Jess's house. It was early - the Aarons were probably still all asleep. Mrs. Aarons wouldn't be happy to be woken up at this hour. Leslie shook her head. No, she'd ask Jess to come next time. He surely wouldn't mind, would he? Jess knew about how close she was to Bill and Judy. No, everything would be just fine.
Barpity, barpity, barpity. Jess almost immediately woke up at the sound of his dad's pick-up truck. For some strange reason, he had a sudden urge to visit Terabithia. Leslie might even be there for all he knew - she was one of those people who you wouldn't think would sleep in much on a bright, beautiful Saturday.
He pulled on his clothes and jacket and quietly headed out the door, taking care not to wake Maybelle or Joyce Ann. It was a beautiful day, despite the heavy rain that had occurred last night, so Jess ran all the way to the creek. When he arrived, the water had swelled nearly a foot, but he was pretty sure that he could still make it across. Jess was thankful that he couldn't bring PT along - it would be harder carrying the dog - as he stepped up on the rock to gain momentum and height. He grabbed the robe with both hands and jumped.
Jess made it only half-way across when, with a sickening sound, that faithful rope that had carried him and Leslie across Lark Creek many-a-time, snapped, and he began to fall. As Jess went, something sharp hit his head, and he cried out. He could hear a voice that sounded sort of like Maybelle calling his name before darkness overtook him and the world went black.
An hour and a half later, Leslie Burke was ready to head off for Terabithia, expecting to meet Jess there. She ran towards Lark Creek but stopped up short when seeing police cars and an ambulance, their lights flashing through the gaps in the trees. Frightened, Leslie turned and headed back towards home to see Bill sitting on the porch, a phone pressed against his ear.
"Yes? Oh, no. I…I will be right there," he said, hanging up. It was the expression on Bill's face that scared Leslie the most - it was as if he'd given up. What, she didn't know, but she could tell that something terrible had occurred.
"What's wrong?" Leslie asked him fearfully.
"Oh, Leslie…Jess was crossing that creek when…the rope snapped. He hit his head on the way down," Bill whispered.
She couldn't even say anything. Leslie stood there, her face frozen in shock, unable to move for a full minute. After what seemed like an eternity, she darted away, fast as a gazelle, towards Terabithia. She finally collapsed at the creek bank and began to sob. It couldn't possibly be true, but Leslie couldn't deny the horrible evidence that it really had happened. Jesse Aarons, her best friend, was dead, and it was all her fault.
Our World:
Jess had just put the final touches on Leslie's bridge - their bridge - that led the way to Terabithia. He'd tried so hard to stay away, but its magic kept drawing him back to their sacred kingdom. Apparently, the magic hadn't left - it was still there, still claiming Jess as its king even though its queen was long since gone.
He stood up to admire his handiwork when Jess heard a faint calling on the other side of the bridge, muffled by the thick brush that covered nearly all of the land.
The leaves rustled, and twigs snapped as someone emerged out of the woods. And that someone was…
"Leslie?"
Alternate World:
Leslie was finally finished with the bridge that she'd worked on for more than a week now - the bridge that led to Terabithia. At first, she had avoided Lark Creek and even her special kingdom, but she knew that that wasn't what Jess would want - he would want her to be happy - she was sure of it. So Leslie built him a bridge. To an outsider, that would be a very strange sort of memorial, but only a Terabithian would know the reason behind her actions.
Leslie stood up to admire her creation, smiling despite the sad circumstances, when she happened to glance at the other side of the creek. Someone was standing there - someone that looked very familiar.
"Leslie?" Jess asked.
In a moment, the two crossed the handmade bridge and met at the middle. They threw their arms around each other and hugged, holding on for dear life lest the other be ripped away, once again, by fate.
"But…how?" Jess wondered aloud, breathless.
"Keep your mind wide open, and anything is possible," Leslie whispered back, grinning.
- The End -