One More Step — Friday Fictioneers

/ JoHawkTheWriter

Title: One More Step
Source:  Friday Fictioneers sponsored by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple
Word count: 100 words

rr-tracks-at-harpers-ferry

PHOTO PROMPT © Dawn M. Miller

I step past the tangled tree limbs encroaching on the railroad bridge, stopping at the edge.

“Do you dare step onto the bridge?” the voice asked. “One more step and no one can save you.”

I crossed hundreds, thousands of bridges, in my traveling years. I had never heard this voice.

“One. More. Step.”

I glanced around. I was alone.

Fast-moving water churned thirty feet below, the chill wind tugged my threadbare coat, my pack dug into my shoulders the weight a ton of bricks.

I stood.

Minutes? Hours? A lifetime?

Time to go home. It was one more step.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

55 thoughts on “One More Step — Friday Fictioneers”

  1. “home” can be the most difficult place to return to though those voices welcome us. time dictates this return. fiction is an amazing way of processing thought. I like what you did not expressly say but allowed emotions from reading your words to create a scene.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. For a moment I wondered what the protagonist’s definition of home was, and what direction exactly was that one more step in: onto the train tracks, or off them and into the water? Either way the dread they felt was well described.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kestril, you have captured the very questions I asked when I read through this. The mystery, the dread, the uncertainty, if those came across, then I am happy. Thank you for commenting. 💕

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  13. Along with everyone else, I really enjoyed this decision process… We all reach that certain something that forces us to decide. We can only go so long (mind you some go on forever but we’re not talking about them!)
    Well done, Jo.

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  20. Because the churning waters deserved a place in the narrative my interpretation of the story leans toward contemplating suicide- and then concluding that maybe going home wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him any more.. .. I loved reading the comments just about as much as the piece itself…

    Liked by 1 person

    • So did I Violet. It is amazing to me how many different interpretations can be read into the words. I like your thoughts, there is hope there. Thanks for reading and your insightful comments. 💕💕💕

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  22. forrest gump started running for no obvious reason. after covering thousands of miles, he just stopped and decided to go home. if he has reached that point like forrest gump, it must be time. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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