A Silence Across the Old Railroad Bridge

A Story by GreenEyedGal

A brief moment in time for two people walking along an old railroad bridge.

When was it that we stopped talking? I still remember us talking about our hopes and dreams when we first met. I remember us slowly getting to know each other more and more, until we even found ourselves comfortable talking about our worst fears and insecurities. I remember having no secrets between us, being so close we were practically inseparable. When did it all change? Why did it all change?

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know. I don’t know why it all changed. Was it because something happened between us? I don’t know, I can’t remember anything that would cause it. We never had any serious fights, neither of us did anything serious like cheating or something. Then maybe it’s just a gradual thing? Did we… get bored of each other? Did we just lose “the spark” we used to have? I mean, I know I still love her deeply. I can’t even imagine not having her in my life anymore? Does she not like me anymore? Maybe? I don’t know. And I don’t think I want to know. The only thing I know is I don’t like this. I don’t like what’s happening to us.

There she is, on the other side of the bridge. We tried not to, but we couldn’t help but take momentary glances at each other. And right now, our eyes met, for a moment at least. Then we both continued to look away once again. S**t, she’s beautiful. As beautiful as she's always been, ever since we first met. So beautiful that I don’t want to look away from her. But at the same time, right now, I don’t want to look at her too. I don’t want her to see me. I don’t want her to see me crying.

It was on this bridge too, on a night like this one, when we shared our first kiss. It was almost exactly like tonight, actually. We went on a trip, and on our way back, our car broke down. No reception, no internet, no anything for miles and miles around us. So all we could do was walk back to civilization. It was just us, all alone, walking for ages. I don’t know if it’s the exhaustion we felt, or maybe because our emotions were at an all-time high, but when we stopped to take a rest on this bridge, somehow or the other, we found our lips locked together, and the rest is history. It’s funny how things can be the same in so many ways, but so different the rest. Now, we can’t even walk side-by-side.

She was always the talker between us. I’ve been shy my whole life, so it takes me a while to get me talking. But she always finds ways to get me to open up. And right now, all I can think about is asking her, “Do you want to talk?” And I’ve been trying to muster up the courage to just say those five words the whole time we were on the bridge. But now that I think I can finally say it, we’ve already reached the end. And I don’t know if anything I say now can bring us back to where we were before, back when we first crossed this old railroad bridge.

© 2022 GreenEyedGal

Author's Note

I noticed something after I first made this. There are two ways to read it. You can read it as a monologue, but you can also read it as an alternating dialogue.