She walked unsteadily across the broken gravel and onto the clear outline of a dirt path that would lead her to the cliff side. Arms wrapped securely around her torso, she closed her eyes briefly against the impact of the wild wind and showering rain, taking a deep breath before stepping off of the path and onto the muddy ground, and climbed easily under a broken link on the fence –the fence that was meant to save lives from falling over the immense rock's edge. She walked slowly, arriving close to the edge of the precipice.
He stood, hovering over the edge of the rock, wondering how life worked out, wondering what happened to take him here. Here, to the edge. It was sudden. It was a simple mistake. It wasn't fair.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. She shouldn't have to bear this pain at so young an age. No one should have to, at all.
But she did. She was. Or at least, that would be her fate if she didn't follow through with her flight.
She didn't hesitate in her decision, only in the actual motion of jumping off of the rock face. Temporarily, everything was beautiful. The rain had washed away the thick layer of smog that usually hovered over the beach in front of her and the city behind her. The sky was a nice, even gray color –not too light or too dark; it was a peaceful shade…
It reminded her of emptiness.
Thinking about the restful scenery didn't take away a moment of the pain she was feeling in her chest; an intense ache arose around the area her heart lay.
He was supposed to be at home; he didn't plan on heading out that day, he just did. It was raining, which he found peaceful. He missed peace. So he left, and started walking.
Whatever amount of will he had left in his broken life carried him to the cliff face.
He contemplated. It wasn't a bad idea. It would be swift. It would be easy.
She chuckled lightly, wondering how her life had gone from interesting to cliché so swiftly. She had just come from a funeral where loved ones were buried; she had a broken heart; and now she would kill herself to relieve the pain, because she wasn't strong enough to bear the misery.
She knew she was crying, yet the rain and wind surrounding her in a swirl of pelting water made it difficult for her to feel the tears. She could barely hear the sobs that racked through her body, almost dragging her down.
Would anyone miss him if he ended it? He hadn't considered the cliffs; he hadn't considered much, really. Everything in the past week was such a wreck that there hadn't been room for contemplation.
Now, he did think. The air cleared his head; the wind whipped any unwanted thought away from him, and he reflected on what the end could do.
It could take away his mistake.
The wind changed directions, bringing a small distressed sound from his left.
She took a step forward toward the edge, ready to finally end it, and considered the view below her. A swirl of angry water, maybe 150 feet below her, was what awaited her. That torrent of angry waves was her fate. Smiling grimly, she took another step forward.
He looked to his left, squinting through the falling drops and spotted a figure on the cliff, across the fence and in the most dangerous part of the cliff side.
The rain temporarily granted him sight; it was more than he needed to realize what she was doing.
She would jump. He saw it from fifty feet away, the look of desperation and confusion as she gazed at the water swirling below us.
She was beautiful in a hopeless kind of way. Her long dark hair clung to her pale face, and the black dress she wore made her look like she had already jumped into the water. There was something in her figure, something that made him see her closer than a distance of fifty feet. Her shoulders were hunched; she was hurt and lost; but she was beautiful.
He didn't want her to jump. He didn't want her to die. He jumped up quickly, yelling.
Was that the wind that yelled? The sound of a distant shout echoed from behind, but she couldn't be sure whether it was her imagination or not. But it didn't matter; one more mystery that would never be solved before she died wouldn't be an issue. Nothing mattered anymore.
Her hair had come loose from the pins that held it back, whipping fiercely and wildly around her pale face. The black dress she wore was flying wildly around her. As if sensing an end, the wind tilted her body, swaying her, and pushing her towards the end she so desperately desired.
She took another small step, kicking pebbles over the edge and into the black water.
He gasped as she took another step closer to the edge. She obviously couldn't hear him.
Would she do it? Would she actually jump?
He didn't want to wait and find out.
He started running.
Falling into the water, so dark and so insane below her, would hurt. But it couldn't break her in more pieces than she was already in.
All at once a wave of despair hit her again, rearing in a tide of desolation and depression that consumed her so often these days once again. It was time to go. She couldn't last much longer.
She took two more steps, now standing directly on the edge of the rock side. One push of the wind would carry her over, allowing fate to take her life.
Another shout, this one closer and louder than before, sounded in the space behind her.
He ran faster, only a few feet from her now. The wind suddenly blew stronger.
The wind took action. It carried the torso of her body back, towards the road, and then quickly forward. Throwing her arms out and smiling, she waited for the wet mud below her cold feet to disappear, for the turbulent sky to let her fly, and then for the slap of water and blackness that would consume her.
But none came.
He reached out and grabbed her, sliding a little in the mud in the attempt, and pulled her back toward a fence post that sat behind them. Her body didn't move with him so he lifted her, dragging her away from the conclusion that rested below.
She felt her feet fall out from under her and a firm hand grasp her upper arm tightly; someone hurriedly pulled her back toward the broken fence, picking up her limp frame to carry her the last few feet.
Wet hair dripped in front of her face, crippling her eyesight so that she couldn't see whoever ruined her attempt at flight, the dark clouds above them, or the view of dark water that she missed. Suddenly she was set down on the slippery ground. She brushed her hair away from her eyes and squinted up at the person who spoiled everything. Another sob broke through her as she looked at the boy; he was beautiful. He was tall with brownish hair that fell, wet, just above his eyes, which were a light green color. He had strong features, and pale skin. He was beautiful, but he had ruined it.
He set her on the ground, trying to be gentle about it, and watched as she looked up at him. Her eyes were rimmed with red and sorrow lay in the dark brown depths. Another heart wrenching cry erupted from her mouth as she looked at him; he felt sorry, and didn't know what to do. So he just stared at her for a few moments. She was even more beautiful up close; she had long dark hair, with dark eyes and lashes that framed them making them look intense and full of depth.
She felt abruptly angry. She had a plan, and she was so close… Then this brilliant boy kneeling next to her had to disrupt it.
"Why?" she choked out in a small voice. "You're in the way."
"Do you have any clue what you were about to do?" he asked her, frowning.
"Of course I know what I'm doing," she replied, stubbornly remaining in the present tense. "It won't be hard anymore." She looked out behind them at the cliffs. The rain, so furiously stubborn for the last few hours, was finally letting up. A mere drizzle fell across their scene now.
She looked hopeless. He didn't want her to.
"Can I help you?" he asked her softly. "Can I take you home?"
She glared at him, but it was so pitiful he didn't back off. "You don't even know me."
"You don't know me either," he pointed out.
"I don't care," she said. "I don't want to know you." Then, she sobbed again. "You ruined everything…"
He bit his lip in hesitation and then took her frozen hand in his. "I know, but I'd like to know you. It doesn't have to be this way," he whispered to her, his deep voice carrying over the wind to her. "I can help."
Even as he said it he wasn't sure HOW he could help her. He only knew that he would do everything he could; he'd forget his own misery and help her deal with the sorrow that overwhelmed her; he'd help her for his whole life if she would let him…
She stared up at him. "It isn't fair. I don't want to be helped, I just want to let go."
"It won't be letting go," he stated. "It would be ending everything."
"Exactly."
"Why?" he asked in a whisper, and she was surprised to hear the pain in his soft voice, too.
She stared at him, more tears leaking down her face as she considered how to explain the heartache, the absolute pain that she had endured for the last week. Everything had turned around so suddenly. It wasn't bearable.
Her face broke once more. "What's left to lose?" she said simply. "Everything is too much; there's nothing good anymore, so why not?"
"What happened?" he wondered.
Her lovely face changed from depressed to angry in one quick second. She whipped her hand out of his and looked away from him, out toward the lonely rock's edge, longingly. "I don't even know you."
"Like I said," he mumbled. "I'd like to change that."
"What's the point?" She threw back at him. "Everything is gone. I can't live like this; I can't live like I'm dead…" Her voice broke.
He contemplated the girl for a second, wondering how he could stop her from committing this awful crime. She was too special to end her life; he couldn't bear to watch it, and he most certainly wouldn't leave her side to let her do it.
She stared at him again, wondering who he was. What right did he have to stand in her way?
He spoke again, "I know you want to end it because it seems like too much right now, but there are other things out there. There's life out there."
"It isn't that easy; it isn't easy to be alive with all of this pain."
"It won't always be this hard," he pleaded with her. "But I promise it will get better…" She continued to stare doubtfully at him. He revised, "I'm not saying there will never be pain, or there will never be heartache. But you can't do this; you can't end your life like this."
"Why not?" she asked, her voice rising angrily in defense. She stood up and backed away a few steps. "It's my life; you don't know anything about my problems, you don't know if they'll ever go away. They won't."
He stood up quickly after her, reaching out his hand in desperation. "Please, don't. I know you want to, but I'm begging you not to."
"Why does it matter?" she whispered in a dead sort of voice. Tears were running continuously down her face as the wind gently blew her dress around her, creating a stark contrast to the grey and blue background painted behind her.
"It matters because you should live. There's more to life than this pain you're feeling. There's more life left to go."
She shook her head sadly at his words. "Not for me." She took another step backwards, only a few away from the edge now. She looked over her shoulder at the tempting sight. She wanted it.
He took a step towards her, and she turned back to face him. She studied his face, wondering at the fear that lay in his light eyes.
He was desperate, wondering how to get her away from the edge.
"Wait," he called. "Just come with me."
"What?"
"Come back with me."
"Are you crazy?" she questioned. "Why?"
"Because you don't have to die. I could try to convince you that there are so many reasons to keep living, but if you're set on jumping you won't listen. So please, just listen enough to come back with me."
She stared at him; at the dark brown and green background that complimented his features; at his green eyes that shone with some tender emotion. "Why do you care so much?" she asked.
There was a change in her face, a softening that didn't stray towards sadness and misery, and didn't reflect harsh anger.
He took a chance, walking closer to her in small considered steps. "You're special," he whispered simply. "You don't deserve whatever happened to you, but you can't end it this way." He walked a few more small paces until he was standing directly in front of her. "Come home with me; I promise everything will be okay. Maybe not tonight, or tomorrow, or even next month… but some time it will be. Please."
"How do you know?" she wondered.
He took her hand in his again, gently pulling her away from her refuge, towards the muddy path in the trees.
"Because I sat over there," he said quietly, and pointed a distance of about fifty feet to the north, "contemplating the same motion for over an hour. And then I heard you."
She stared at his green eyes, eyes that somehow held hope and faith and care while they stared back at her, and felt herself hoping a little too.
"What if it isn't okay?" she worried, letting more of that despair that always drowned her take her in another wave. "I don't know you, you can't promise me anything."
"I can try, though."
She wavered, her hand shaking a little in his, as she pondered walking away from her escape. He stood besides her, waiting patiently, and held her hand in his just a bit tighter.
"Alright," she conceded. "I'll go with you. But if you can't help me, which you probably can't…, then I'm coming back. I'll leap," she swore.
He smiled at her, and suddenly she was out of breath, wondering if she'd ever really come back here. With this beautiful boy standing in front of her, willing her to live, and smiling… she might find something to hope for again.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Bella," she replied. "Yours?"
He smiled again, and answered, "I'm Edward."
*********
So, i didn't plan on writing this..
I started writing last night because i was bored, and then i decided to label the boy and girl as Edward and Bella, and badda bing, badda boom, there it is :)
Anyhoo. Reviews are much appreciated. Don't be afraid to critique. LOVES :)
LoLfEdward.