Jump

• Bridget Lean, Grade 8
• Poetry
• 2021

Clay Wilson sat on the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge. He’d done the research. 85% of people who jump from high places will die. ‘I’m 17’ he thought. ‘I’ve lived enough. I’ve listened to everyone, but no one listens to me. Why am I still here? Why does everyone hate me?’
Clay slowly stood up. It was high. If he jumped there was no going back. He looked down at the depths below. His mind was blank. No words except for one were in his mind. Jump.
Clay suddenly turned around. He heard footsteps. No one was there. ‘Just like no one has been for me all along’ he thought. Turning back to the depths below him he knew he was ready. He doesn’t have any parents, friends or people he can trust. Just one step and no more pain. No more suffering. No more life.
Something tugged his arm. It was a warming feeling. Clay looked around to see a teenage girl holding his arm, staring back at him. She had tears in her eyes. She was clothed in denim jeans and a baseball jacket. “Please” she said. “Don’t go. It’s not worth it.”
She seemed desperate yet Clay didn’t know who this girl was, nor had he seen her before in his life. “Why not?” Clay asked the girl. “I have no purpose here.”
“You have to trust me” she replied. “I know what it feels like. You’re not alone.” She looked around the age of 16 and was a little shorter than Clay.
Clay’s mind was filling up with questions. ‘How do you know what this feels like when you’re standing here? Alive’ he thought.
She let go of his arm. It was as if this girl had just read Clay’s mind. “Just follow me” she said and slowly started walking towards the exit of the bridge.
Clay had some strong urge to follow her. He’d never met this girl, but his mind told him otherwise.
Gently, he carefully climbed over the railing, back to the path that ran across the bridge. She walked faster and faster. Clay was now jogging to keep up with her. Turn after turn the girl ended up taking Clay to a small café. Inside was empty. No one was inside. No workers nor customers.
“Why here?” questioned Clay. She stood back and looked at him. She wasn’t upset anymore. Instead, she walked over to the nearest table and placed down a book. It looked old. “Open it” she whispered. Clay walked over, picked it up and opened the first page. It read: ‘The Diary of Heather Walters.’ He continued reading the diary and the more he read, the diary told him about this girl. She suffered just like he had. She made the mistake that he was about to. He looked up. She vanished in thin air. He read till the end of the book and realised one thing. The book ended with ‘Sincerely, your Guardian Angel… Stay safe.’