he Bridge

No one in , the small town knew where the bridge had come from. One day, there was just the pier and the next day the bridge was there over the water, not far from the pier.. The townspeople, who had seen it, gave it an ominous nickname: "The Jumping Off Point." It had been given its name, after a woman, despondant over a recent breakup between her and her boyfriend, walked to the bridge and had thrown herself over the edge and had fallen to her death in the icy waters below.
* * *
No one in the town knew how their lives would be changed since the bridge was there. Cars had mysteriously gone over the sides, never ot be seen again; always taking some of the boards from the side of the bridge with them. However, when the sheriff would go to examine the bridge, it would always be intact.
* * *
No one in town could understand what was happening there. Things got so bad with the bridge, that people that had been meaning to use it, went another direction; sometimes going out of their way, so they would not have to use the bridge. When the men fished, those who had always fished from a bridge in the past, now set up their chairs on the pier and fished from there. They did not think that the fishing was any better, they just did not have any intention of setting foot on the bridge.
* * *
They had people come from the city to examine the bridge. They had been there for a couple of days and had gone away shaking their heads. The bridge had been sound; they had not been able to find anything out of the ordinary.
* * *
Townspeople had tried to find out anything about the bridge to see who had built it, but there did not seem to find anything that would help them. In desperation, a mob of them went to the bridge, a minute before midnight and set fire to the bridge.

They figured that if they got rid of the bridge, they would be rid of their troubles. As they were walking away from the flames, one happened to hear something and turned back in the direction they had just come.

He could not believe his eyes. The flames had died out. They shook their heads in disbelief and went home. Soon, the townspeople had all moved away, and the small town that they had loved so fondly, soon became a ghost town.


Approx. 400 words