let go

Blood streaks her face. Her hair whips in the wind. Terror fills her gaze.

“Let me go.”

“No!” Tears stream my face as I grip her hand with both of mine. Rocks bite into my abdomen. I feel weight on my legs … someone holding me down to keep me from following her over the edge. 

A gaping maw of darkness swallows the space between the cliff and the moonlit lake below. Blood streaks her face. Her hair whips in the wind. Terror fills her gaze. 

I can save her. 

Her injured hand grips a jutting rock. I hear the scrape of her bare feet trying to find purchase on the cliffside. 

My heart pounds. 

My muscles strain.  

I can save her. 

I pull with all my strength as she tries to push upward.

I’m dragged further over the cliff. The one holding on to me shouts cuss words, adjusts position, stalls my body’s slide.

“Help me, damn it!” I call over my shoulder. 

“If I move, you both go over.”

“Then move!” My vision blurs. I blink away the tears. If she’s gone, there’s no point to me.

“It’s okay.” She puts her injured hand on top of mine. For a moment, hope sparks. I meet her gaze, and I see her intention. 

“Don’t!” I scream. 

I can save her. 

She bends my fingers back. Hard. Quick. Pain erupts from my joints. My hand refuses to withstand the agony. 

Not even for her. 

My fingers release. She slips out of my grasp. 

Then she’s falling. 

Falling into the darkness.

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