The Bridge

#shortstory #adventure #deardiary #comedy

Dear Diary,

You will never guess who I ran into today. I took a trip into the city to run some errands. You know the usual stuff, get my thorns trimmed, go for an eye exam, and get my ceramic pot detailed, maintenance really. My last detailing appointment was a month ago.

Anyways, in between my eye exam and detailing appointment, I stopped by a cafe at the corner of Skittles Row and Reecer Ave for a cup of coffee and a quick snack to carry me through the next few hours. Stepping out of the cafe with my order in hand something at the corner of my eye caught my attention. Turning towards the object, it was far up one of the metropolitan buildings standing at the edge of the roof facing south towards the lake.

From here it was difficult to see what it could be, but it appeared to be moving from one end of the roof to the other, and it did that back and forth, over and over again. Why is someone on top of a building and at such heights too? The event was slowly gaining attention from other onlookers passing by, even from people working in the buildings across the street from where this person was standing.

Curious, I walked closer stretching my neck up to catch another look. The person's body build looked stalky but lean at the same time. They had a hat on and from what I could see they were hopping across the roof top instead of walking. Kind of like me! Huh! I thought I was the only one that hopped. Thinking about my observations about this stranger, something happened to catch their attention, and they quickly disappeared from sight.

Did they find something? Did they trip backwards? Or did someone call them to come back inside? Whatever it was, the onlookers started to go about their way and the crowd that was surrounding the building slowly started to disperse. Looking back up one more time to make sure they were truly gone, I too, slowly started to make my way towards my next appointment when I heard hopping coming from behind me.

Turning back around, it was the stranger standing on the rooftop. Before I could say anything they said, 'I thought I would never find you in this grey jungle, but what do ya know I managed to spot you from a mile away!' I think it was more than a mile away from where he was standing, confused at their words and impressed with their eye sight at the same time, I replied, 'I guess so, but mind if I ask why you were looking for me? How do you know me?'

Casually looking at the city from ground level, they said, 'My name is Segeal, I'm your cousin. My mom and your mom are sisters, before you were born my parents moved to Australia. When I told them I was going to travel to America, they gave me contact information for my aunt, your mom, and before you know it, I'm here meeting my cousin.' Pointing in my direction when he mentioned 'cousin'. Still surprised at the news I had trouble finding words to say next. Segeal took this opportunity to include me in his next venture.

'Come with me, I want to do some more sight seeing now that I'm here, and you and I can catch up along the way.' Segeal was a fast hopper I struggled to keep up with him, every hop Segeal took, it took me 3 hops to catch up! Breathless I fumble with my words, 'Se-Se-Segeal, I ca-n't stay fo-for l-ong, I ha-have some-where else I-I ne-eed to be.' With out missing a beat, Segeal turns back and says, 'Oh don't worry about it, we're almost there. I think you're going to enjoy the view from this place.'

In a split second, Segeal makes a sharp turn towards the city bridge. The view on the bridge was covered by the fog rolling in from the east. It was thick enough to block the view I think Segeal wanted to see, or so I thought. Following behind, I see that Segeal misses the sidewalk and hops towards a closed area. There, leading down a narrow path was a ladder going up one of the bridge posts. 'What are you doing? We're not supposed to be here.'

Unbothered Segeal looks in my direction, shrugs, and says, 'There is no one here that says we can't be here.' Completey ignoring the sign that was blocking the path that said 'DO NOT ENTER'... 'Come on, I know you're going to like what you see up there.' Pointing up towards the top of the bridge. He's completely lost his mind, I thought. 'Segeal, this path is blocked for a reason, we can't just walk and climb th-' Before I could finish my sentence Segeal was already hopping up the ladder.

'Hey! Segeal! Come back down here!' Either he can't hear, me or he's chosen to ignore me. Someone's got to get him back down, and since I was the only one in the area, it was left up to me. Looking around to see if there was anyone that could spot me, I slowly started to hop up the ladder behind Segeal. The climb took a couple minutes to reach the top, when I reached half way I slowly started to disappear into the fog. It was difficult to see where I was going, and I was worried that I might miss a step and fall. That would be pretty bad, I thought. Taking my time, hoping on to one railing after the other, the fog slowly started to thin out, and the light was getting brighter the further I went.

At the top I found a wide ledge to the right of the ladder, and on the other side of it I saw Segeal staring in my direction waiting for me to reach him. 'Segeal you need to get back down, we are not suppo-' that's when I saw it.

Right across from me I could see a sea of fog covering the ground below. In the distance, the mountain side with their tips exposed, they looked like an undiscovered island and behind, the sun was shining with the bluest sky I have ever seen. It didn't look real, it felt like this is something I shouldn't be seeing, but I was. It was beautiful. Behind with a soft voice Segeal said, 'I told you, you'd like it.' Unable to find my words, worried if I did say anything I would disturb the view I didn't want to go away, I subtly shook my head up and down in agreement.

From a distance I could hear the wailing sound of sirens coming from below, a lot of them. Looking down we couldn't see anything from the fog, but they were getting louder and seemed to be stopping right below us. Staring at the fog, Segeal asks, 'I wonder who that's for?' Unimpressed, I stare at Segeal realizing the trouble we are about to be in. 'Segeal, that's for us.....'