On a Bridge - A Very Short Story

A young woman walked along the city street, a hood pulled over her hair to mask from the drizzle that was threatening to turn in to a downpour. She glanced up at the sky before sighing and turning to take the street that led down to the water. Her waterproof boots clomped down on the damp ground as she walked down the slight hill. Water splashed all around as she stepped in the puddles, but she didn't care.

After a few minutes a river came in to view between the buildings. She continued walking to the edge of the water and stepped out onto the bridge that allowed cars and pedestrians to cross over. The river below was white capped from the storm, and splashed up against the legs of the bridge, but nobody was paying attention as they hurried across on their way to work. Except the young woman. She stopped when she got close to the middle of the bridge and looked over the side at the teaming water below, thinking. She rested her arms on the wide railing and repeatedly bumped it with the toe of her boot. She stayed like that for a few minutes, unaware of her surroundings, until a gust of wind came. Her hood flew off, wrenching her attention back to the present. She looked around at the people on the bridge, and blinked against the storm.

Just as she was about to turn around and look back at the water, someone caught her eye. A man was walking towards her along the sidewalk of the bridge. At first all she could make out was a silhouette, but as he got nearer she started to see more. He wore a heavy raincoat, but left the hood down, so his wild brown hair was free to whip around in the wind. He had pale skin and slim face complete with shocking light blue eyes. And he was looking right at her. The man smiled when he saw that she was staring back at him. Her own eyes widened and she could feel her heart beat a bit faster as he drew nearer. It felt as if her thoughts turned fuzzy and she couldn't figure out what else to do besides stand stock still. Finally, when he was just a few feet way she managed a smile, but could feel it was a weak one. His grin grew larger as he glanced at the ground before looking back up at her face. He passed just a foot away. After a few seconds she let out a sigh and realized that she had been holding her breath.

She turned and watched him retreat away from her for a few more seconds before looking back again to the water. The image of him with his back turned to her, walking with a loping pace along the sidewalk with his crazy hair still blowing in the wind, was imprinted on her mind. She tried to shake the stranger out of her head, attempting to steer her attention back to the churning water below. The rain had started to fall a bit harder now, just as she expected. The droplets bounced on the surface of the river, making it even more rough than before. She rubbed her eyes and tried still to not think about the man. After a few moments she gave up and decided that it would be best to simply get off the bridge. Just as she was about to turn back the way she came, she felt a slight tap on her shoulder.

Whirling around, she came face to face with the stranger.

"Hello," he said.

Book Review: Sharp Objects

I just finished the book Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, and Oh. My. Gosh. It is absolutely insane! The novel tells the story of a woman named Camille Preaker, who is assigned to travel to her hometown to write about the murder mysteries of two young girls for the paper she works for. It may sound like a typical mystery novel, but it is definitely not a story that you can come across everyday. The plot line is twisted, and Flynn keeps you guessing until the very end. She throws so many curveballs that I'm surprised I wasn't dizzy by the time I put down the book.

I would definitely recommend this story to anyone who loves a good thriller. But beware, it is not for the faint hearted. There are a few scenes that contain very explicit material, so I would not  advise the younger ones to read it, unless they are up for some very shocking material. But, even despite of that, this book is absolutely amazing. It will make you get lost in thought, and you definitely wont want to  put it down until you are finished.

My worn copy of the book. 

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the publishing of the novel, nor do I own any of the rights.
Text of post and photograph of book by me. (c) Logic of a Student some rights reserved

Unrequited Love

Finding someone who loves you as much as you love them can be one of life's greatest joys, but unrequited love is one of life's greatest disappointments. Unfortunately, everyone usually has to deal with it in their lifetime at one point or another. We all will feel the pain of this enormous loss. But if we know that it will happen and if we know how to get out, why do people keep making this mistake?

The process of falling for someone can be amazing, but also absolutely terrifying, whether you know the person well or not.  Maybe you have a few thoughts about them, maybe some considerations. But then, those can turn into full blown thought trains and tangents. Your brain and imagination starts to fill up with thoughts on only them. Your life turns upside down. And hopefully for your sake they will return these feelings. But if they don't, the world can turn cruel. The goodness that was once so prominent can seem to have been sucked from the world. Sometimes the color goes away. I have seen people turn dark and depressed over their unrequited feelings. People like to feel. They like to know that they are alive, and two of the extremes that have to do with feeling are love and pain. Unrequited love is a combination.

But why do we still love, want, and crave a particular human being if it is only putting us through misery? It's almost masochistic. For anyone to put themselves through pain and suffering for another sounds crazy! But it doesn't stop. So, why? Yes, I know, "because of love." I understand that love can be a great and extremely powerful thing. But why must is be painful. Is it because of the made up stories in their imagination about fairytales that people want so very badly to be true? Is part of it just wanting to succeed and win in the chase?

We all want someone to love. Humans are naturally social beings, and yes some may like having alone time more than others. But that usually doesn't mean that they want to be alone forever. Nonetheless, no one should hurt themselves over finding love. If you put yourself out there and they don't want you back, it is their loss! Don't let them take away from your beauty, don't turn into a wilted or mangled flower over someone that doesn't deserve you.