The Bridge
719 Words
The shop lights flickered.
Then everything became still.
Beverly stood frozen.
Daniel was gone.
One second he was standing in front of her.
The next second, he wasn’t.
The rain continued outside.
Beverly looked around the shop.
“Daniel?” she called.
No answer.
She walked to where he had been standing.
Nothing.
Her heart was racing.
“What is happening to me?”
The question hung in the air.
But nobody answered.
A few minutes later, Beverly locked the shop and drove home.
The entire journey felt unreal.
Daniel’s words kept repeating in her mind.
I died.
But not fully.
And every time it rains… you bring me back.
She shook her head.
None of it made sense.
By the time she got home, it was evening.
The rain had stopped.
The apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
Beverly dropped her keys on the table and sat down.
Her eyes landed on the old photograph.
The one showing her and Daniel together.
Slowly, she picked it up.
She stared at it for several seconds.
Then she turned it over.
Nothing.
Just an old picture.
Or at least that’s what she thought.
As she was about to put it down, something caught her attention.
One corner of the photo looked thicker than the rest.
Beverly frowned.
Carefully, she peeled it back.
A small piece of paper fell onto the table.
Her breath caught.
“What?”
She picked it up.
There were only three words written on it.
FIND THE BRIDGE.
Beverly stared at the message.
“The bridge?”
She had no idea what it meant.
But somehow it felt important.
Very important.
Suddenly her phone buzzed.
Unknown Number.
Her stomach tightened.
Another message.
STOP LOOKING.
Beverly immediately typed back.
WHO ARE YOU?
The message showed delivered.
But no reply came.
She waited.
Still nothing.
Frustrated, she threw the phone onto the couch.
Then she looked back at the paper.
Find the bridge.
Maybe that was the next clue.
Maybe it was the reason she couldn’t remember Daniel.
The next morning, Beverly called Amara.
“You sound serious,” Amara said.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A message hidden inside the photograph.”
Silence.
Then Amara laughed nervously.
“Okay, that’s officially creepy.”
Beverly smiled slightly.
“It says, ‘Find the bridge.’”
“The bridge where?”
“I don’t know.”
“So what’s the plan?”
Beverly looked out the window.
The sky was clear.
“I’m going to find out.”
That afternoon, she drove across the city.
At first, nothing looked familiar.
Then she reached an old bridge near the edge of town.
The moment she saw it, her chest tightened.
She couldn’t explain why.
But she knew she had been there before.
Beverly parked and got out.
The bridge was almost empty.
Only a few people walked past.
She slowly stepped onto it.
The wind was cool.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then rain began to fall.
Light drops.
Soft and quiet.
Beverly looked up.
“No way.”
The sky had been clear seconds ago.
Her heart started beating faster.
Because she already knew what was coming.
“Daniel?” she whispered.
A voice answered behind her.
“You found it.”
Beverly turned around.
Daniel stood a few feet away.
Rain fell around him.
His clothes were already soaked.
Like always.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Beverly held up the paper.
“What is this place?”
Daniel looked at the bridge.
His expression changed.
Almost like he was remembering something too.
“We came here a lot.”
Beverly’s breath caught.
“We?”
Daniel nodded.
“You and me.”
Before Beverly could respond, pain shot through her head.
Sharp.
Sudden.
She grabbed the railing.
Images flashed through her mind.
Rain.
Laughter.
Daniel smiling.
A hand holding hers.
Then darkness.
The memory vanished.
Beverly gasped.
Daniel immediately stepped forward.
“Easy.”
“What was that?” she asked.
“A memory.”
Beverly stared at him.
Her eyes filled with confusion.
“It felt real.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Because they both knew it was.
The rain continued falling.
And for the first time, Beverly realized something.
She wasn’t just searching for Daniel anymore.
She was searching for herself
- Writer
