newest issue!
home
about nar
our mission
back issues
the staff
submissions
contacting us
 
Tragic Romance

by DeAnna Janecek

The cold gray water rushed underneath the stone bridge. Not that she knew it was cold; not yet, at least. 'Stop thinking like that,' she told herself. 'You are not going to jump off of this bridge. There really is no reason to be so upset; it's just another tragic romance. Yep, everything was fine, and then, bam. It happened. Everything fell apart and my life went back to the way it was before. Not mundane, of course, but just, well, sort of lonely.'

The girl moved as a horse drawn carriage went by, a happy couple in the back. 'Look at them,' she thought cynically. 'Just look, they think they're happy now. Let's see what they think about each other in another month or two, or even in the morning. They all end the same: tragic, over, fini.' She sighed, and watched her breath float off in the cold evening air. The river was strange at this time of day. The clouds were partly covering the sky, letting some dusky gray light through and causing the river to be a gray smoky colour in turn. The lights that lined the river bank had turned on just a few minutes earlier, and now cast their hazy yellow reflections onto the water. The buildings, the trees, and everything else that stood up from the ground were black, resembling large shadow monsters that scare children at night.

She stopped admiring the beauty of the moment and turned her mind back to serious matters. Could there be anyone else for her? Well, certainly there could be. Was there anyone else? That was a question worth the asking. She thought about all of the people she knew. Yes, maybe there were a couple of chances left for her, but why bother? The girl frowned at the murky water, which was beginning to glisten from the stars that were slowly appearing in the sky. They were twinkling, much like how the lights of the city were beginning to turn off and on as people left work and went home. Home to families and the such. 'Something I will probably never have,' she thought. 'Quit this! You're going to depress yourself.' She sighed again and watched a second time as her breath floated away on a chilly breeze. She looked back at the water. It looked so inviting. 'It would be like swimming in the stars,' she thought. Swimming in space, swimming without any cares. The girl looked around; the carriages would be done with their rides for the night, and the park was probably empty.

Carefully stepping up, she stood on the bridge railing and looked down, then back up. No one was around. She looked back down, and caught her breath as she thought about how cold the water might be. But, if one wanted to swim with the stars they had to take chances. Silence had settled over the park, the kind of sharp silence only noticeable on crisp, cold winter nights. She sighed once more, this time out of anxiety more than anything else. She smiled as she thought about swimming with stars.......



Back to Hell





North Avenue Review
A Georgia Tech Publication.