I don’t want to live anymore… There’s nothing left for me anymore… the young woman thought as she looked over the side of a bridge.
The black haired beauty was in despair, her career at a screeching halt because of a faulty surgery. Sueing the doctor and the hospital was not enough to save her career or to even boost it back up. The papers were spreading rumors, saying truths mixed with lies, ending her career before she even had a chance to show them that things could still be alright. But she had tried and they were right… She would never be able to sing again, not like she used to. It was the only thing she had ever known and now it was gone in a flash.
She climbed over the railing of the bridge and held onto it, her arms behind her. She leaned herself out and looked down at the street below where the night traffic was bumper to bumper but going at a steady rate. She wouldn’t feel any pain and at least she would go out with grace, not sniveling and being trampled by the media and the so called ‘fans’ who try to stick up for her sad ending. No, she would go out with the pride she had as a singer, not letting the world take her under, but taking care of it herself.
“Hey, don’t jump.” Someone said behind her.
She turned and saw a young man looking at her with a serious expression but his hands were in his coat pockets. He didn’t look like he would really stop her, per se but he was watching her with a careful eye.
“Stay back.” She said, not seeing the need to say it but saying it anyway.
“I don’t plan to move… Was it a boyfriend or something?”
“What?”
“Why you’re jumping… Did your boyfriend dump you or something?”
“No… I would never be so petty.” She said with a snood lift of her nose.
The young man gave her a smirk. “My bad. What’s so bad that you think the world would be better if you weren’t in it?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Well, isn’t that why you’re doing it?” he said, gesturing to the railing. “Why else would you be trying to hurl yourself off the bridge?”
“Maybe I need to go to another time period and the only way I can is by jumping off.”
He laughed. “This isn’t Kate and Leopold here, lady. Really, though, why do you think the world would be better without you?”
The young woman thought about it for a moment and realized that he was right: what impact would she be making on the world by doing this? She did more impacting with her singing than this would ever do. Sure, it would be in the papers and all over the news but it would fade over time and soon she’d be another ‘oh, I remember her’ singers.
“All I’ve ever done is sing… I’m a singer…”
“Yeah? You’re in the dark so I can’t really see your face.” He said, squinting to look.
“I’m Yve.”
“The Yve?”
“Yes… the opera singer. You don’t look like you listen to opera.”
“When you’re as famous as you, you don’t have to listen to opera. I heard you had throat surgery?”
“Yes… That’s why I’m doing this. My career is over and I have nothing else to live for. I’ve done this all my life but now I have nothing.”
She turned back around, now more determined to end it all, damn the impact she had. She just wanted to get away from all of it.
“So you’re going to do it then?” she heard him say softly behind her.
“Yes.”
She looked down and breathed in, bracing herself for the impact and that slight hurt she’d feel when she heard humming. She turned and saw the young man looking up but it was him, she knew it. He was humming one of her songs, a eulogy from an opera she had been in a little while back. Though he wasn’t singing, his humming carried her tune, her highs and her lows and even through the wavering between scales. It was such a beautiful sound, as muffled as it was, but the cool and pretty much silent night gave the humming a surreal feel. It touched her and she felt herself begin to cry.
When he was done, he looked over at her and she saw him smile.
“You didn’t jump…”
“That was so beautiful…”
“See? You have things to do in this world. If you were done, you wouldn’t have heard me at all. Think about it for a moment and come on back over the railing. I’ll even help you out.” He said, holding out his hand.
He was far away but when she made a gesture to come back over, he walked over to her and helped her. When she came back over, she clung to him, the adrenaline she had had escaping and making her shake.
“I’m glad that you didn’t kill yourself, Yve. Even though bad things have happened, I know you’ll find a way to make things right in your world.”
“Thank you… What’s your name?”
“Leo.”
“Leo… Thank you for saving me.”
He nodded and they went their separate ways.