Under the Bridge
Flash Fiction, quick reads to spur the imagination
Officer Trinity Ferray gently closed the Squad Car door. The Gold Star and blue background stood out on the white vehicle. Paradise Cove Police encircled the shield.
The young man sitting on the edge of Soldier’s Creek bridge didn’t acknowledge her arrival or approach.
Squinting, she left her sunglasses hanging from her pocket. Let them see your eyes, she recalled from the suicide prevention training.
“Good afternoon, can we talk?” she said.
The young man, 20-something, Caucasian, with dark hair, didn’t respond, and his posture didn’t change, he kept staring down between his legs.
“Could I get your name, I’m Trinity, call me Trin if you like.”
This time he leaned forward a little more and tilted his head as if trying to hear something.
“It’s a beautiful day out today.” Small talk to build a connection, she thought.
Now he leaned forward, a smile breaking the edges of his face quickly changed to a curious morph.
“Are you from around here, Trudges Hollow?” she asked.
“Mmmmm.” He said, raising his hand, careening his neck to the left, his head turning quickly to the right, toward the far side of the river below, following whatever he was watching.
Officer Ferray realized he was watching something. “What is so interesting down there that has you up on the side of the bridge? People get scared when they see folks sitting on the edge of the bridge, ya know.”
The young man chuckled, sat up, and turned to look at her. “Yeah, lots of folks jump from here, kill themselves, right? Not me, I had to stop and watch, wasn’t sure what I was seeing at first. Come look.”
Trinity hesitated; she wasn’t sure she wanted to see. but she approached the edge of the bridge anyway.
Hovering a little off the water of the river was a craft. It was large, circular, and metallic, it didn’t seem to be painted, just bare metal. There were tubes hanging from the bottom of the craft that extended into the water, “What the hell is that?”
“It looks to be an alien spacecraft, a flying saucer, a UFO. There are three of them one over there,” the young man pointed to the left, “and one over there,” pointing to the right.”
Trinity looked to the right and left. Sure enough, sitting upon the shore of the river sat two more of the circular craft. There was a ramp lowered from the bottom of the craft. Trinity stood there looking over the side of the bridge, unable to speak.
© 2022, T. Mark Mangum
I am T. Mark Mangum. From an early age, I was hooked and addicted to the imagined, unfathomable worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan, the Lord of the Rings, and many others. I love writing fiction tales. I love writing in multiple genres. However, my favorites are Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I am a father of six; we have two cats and two dogs. Tabletop gaming is a passion.
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