Chapter 4 :The Bridge Memory
293 Words
Lina told herself she wasn’t going to think about it.
Not the messages.
Not Maya.
Not that night.
But memories don’t ask for permission.
They just return.
It started with rain.
Always rain.
Lina found herself walking without meaning to, her feet taking her somewhere she didn’t plan to go.
Her mind felt distant, like she was watching herself from far away.
When she looked up, she stopped.
The bridge.
Her breathing slowed.
“No…” she whispered. “I didn’t come here.”
But she had.
The same place from her memory.
The same place she avoided for months.
A cold wind passed through, and suddenly the air felt heavier.
Like the past was standing right behind her.
And then it came back.
Not as a thought.
As a moment.
Maya standing near the edge.
Hair soaked.
Voice shaking.
“Lina… just tell them what really happened.”
Lina stepping back.
“I can’t.”
Maya’s eyes were full of hurt, not anger.
“Why are you protecting yourself?”
Silence.
Rain hitting the ground louder than anything else.
Lina’s voice broke.
“You don’t understand…”
Maya shook her head slowly.
“No, Lina. I understand too well.”
A long pause.
Then Maya said something softer.
Something that changed everything.
“If you leave now… don’t come back later and lie about me.”
A horn from a passing car snapped Lina back to reality.
She stumbled backward, breathing fast.
Her face was wet.
She didn’t know if it was rain or tears.
“I didn’t… I didn’t leave her…” she whispered.
But even she didn’t sound sure anymore.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She froze.
Slowly, she pulled it out.
Unknown Number.
One message.
"Now you’re remembering."
- Writer
