More Fractured Tales stories!
Many times I have stood “on” the bridge but never have I gone “over” the bridge. Not once.
I have gone up the steps on this side… but not down the steps on the other side.
That might sound foolish… perhaps unimportant… for what difference does it make in the scheme of things?
No one will care if I go over the bridge… or if I don’t.
What I do – or don’t do – concerns no one but myself.
So, the question is: do I want to go over the bridge?
Am I ready to explore what’s on the other side? Am I ready to solve the mystery?
Or am I afraid of what I will find?
Perhaps what’s on the other side will draw me further… until I get lost.
Perhaps it will be so interesting, or exciting, that I will not want to return.
I have always heard that if you go over the bridge… once will not be enough.
You will continue to go over the bridge again and again. Why?
Am I brave enough to find out?
From where I stand… in the centre of the bridge… it looks calm and peaceful… resembling an ocean of green… its surface rippling gently with the breeze.
BUT… the perimeter of this serenity is surrounded by a darker green… with breaks that are very dark and foreboding.
And I wonder… even worry… about what lies hidden by those dark patches… perhaps something evil and harmful.
And then I wonder… if it is safe to push my limits… to go over the bridge… to venture into unknown elements.
I cannot see what lies beneath the surface… what creatures or pitfalls might be lurking there.
Perhaps there are holes that will cause me to fall… maybe even holes deep enough to fall into and get lost in.
There might be strange things living in these holes… things that might reach up and pull me in… and no one would ever know what had happened to me.
Cold shivers wash over me… my hands begin to shake… my knees start to tremble… and I know I can go no further.
I must go back… must return to the small sanctuary… the only place where I feel safe.
And once again, I will berate myself for my cowardice… for failing to face my fear of the unknown.
It is a fear that is probably more imagination than anything else… but is also a fear that I am unable to shake.
Once again… this is not the day I will cross the bridge.
