Nefaria--a prose anthology

Tryst

My car huffs and sputters as I pull into the parking lot. It dies with one last triumphant sigh, and though I know there's no reviving it, I don't care. It's lived its life.

I pull the keys out and drop them in the seat before opening the door to a wave of cool autumn air. I drop to the ground and slam the door behind me. My phone clatters in the side compartment, but I ignore it and begin to walk. I look up and around as I walk, eager to pull as much of this experience as I can, careless where my feet fall against the uneven pavement.

I pause right before a walking trail, long enough to look out into the forest. It's beautiful, so full of life. I wish I could stay here forever.

I take a step onto the path, the pavement little more than cracked patches and overgrown grass. A sign hangs on a tree to the right, stubbornly telling its viewers to keep motor vehicles off the trail. I brush the sign with my fingertips as I pass, smiling a little.

The dense forest edges on my little personal avenue, spilling limbs and vines onto the walkway to reach for my legs and feet. Branches arch overhead.

A tunnel to my doom, I think with an emotion akin to amusement, before brushing the thought out of my head. This is peaceful, and it's best not to disturb that.

The soft sound of a stream floats up from the steep dropoff to my left. I pause long enough to look over the side, at the minnows darting about and a small snake slithering across the water. It looks so peaceful, I'd take a swim if I had the time.

I continue on my way, passing winding turn after winding turn through velvet green curtains, punctuated by glints of sunlight dappling the cracked ground.

A break in the trees makes itself known by a twisted wire fence. Steps closer, and I realize the fence stands guard around an old cemetery. Each gravestone is in various stages of crumbling, some names carved into the stone no longer recognizable, completely forgotten.

Someday I'll be joining these ranks, I think, before banishing the thought again.

But not for a long time, I add quickly.

I tear my gaze away from the graveyard, forcing my feet to keep walking, no matter how interesting the gravestones are to watch.

The trail is relatively uneventful after the graveyard, the stream bubbling loud enough to dim my thoughts. I pass another path--little more than a rabbit trail through the undergrowth--and I'm tempted to go down it.

No time, I remind myself.

The sound of a highway slowly comes into focus, and my heart beats from excitement. I know I'm getting close.

Almost as if on cue, a soft voice speaks from behind me.

"You made it."

I turn to see her, and I smile.

"Of course I did," I say, pacing forward to meet her. "Why wouldn't I?"

She tosses her arms around me, and nuzzles her face into my shoulder. "You're in deep, deep denial aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say.

"Of course not," she says. She moves away to take my hand. "Up to the highway?" she asks.

Before I could even say anything, she pulls me away, further down the path, to the sound of rushing cars.

A tall bridge comes into view, towering over the little valley with its small stream.

We splash across the stream, our shoes slowly becoming soaked. She tosses water up towards my face, and before I can get her back, she darts off.

We follow the familiar path up one of the slopes and onto the ledge on the outside of the bridge. Halfway across we sit on the thin ledge. My heart races from adrenaline, and my mind still spins from the height, no matter how many times we've been up here.

I face her, and she gazes at me, love brimming in her dull blue eyes. Her brown hair glistens red in the sun. She smiles.

Memories race through my mind of the time we've spent on this little ledge. Our first date here, bringing a bag of takeout and almost dropping it all. Our first kiss, underneath the moonlit, cloudy sky. Our first, and only, brush with an officer, telling us off for sitting up here. It didn't affect us, though. Time after time we came here to meet and get away.

In the not-so-far-off distance, a horrible boom sounds, and moments later a mushroom cloud blooms across the horizon.

I cup her face in my hand, leaning forward to kiss her. She wraps an arm around me, and we savor our last moments before blinking out of existence into an eternity. An eternity of nothing but me, her, and this little ledge overlooking the world.