A Short Story by Michael E. Wilson Jr.

Greg was running down the city block on Canal trying to reach Varet Street as soon as he possibly could. He knew the bounty hunters had been looking for him and was trying his best to stay out of their sight. These bounty hunters had been searching for him for the last six weeks. He owed them a large sum of money that he borrowed to produce his films and had not paid them back. All of his projects failed and his accounts had been frozen due to overwhelming debt. How could Greg pay back twenty thousand dollars when he didn’t even have enough for a meal! Like you, Greg didn’t know the answer either. As he reached Varet Street he realized that the bounty hunters would find him on Varet for sure; he had lost all faith that he could escape successfully. He began to think up a plan. The bridge was not far from his present Varet. He then decided that he would jump into the river and give his destiny to the vile current. Greg was planning on drowning himself that sly evening.

As he approached the bridge he slowed down and began to feel relieved from running for so long. The bridge was quiet with no one in the distance to witness Greg take his life. He smiled as he stepped out into the edge and stared at the now black water. His phone suddenly began to ring. Greg threw it off to the side of the bridge. It slid to the opposite side of the bridge almost falling over into the ocean. Greg believed it to be the bounty hunters informing him that they were on his tail. Greg then jumped into the river and an amazing splash would have been heard if anyone was around to hear it.

Greg’s phone had stop ringing and a soft voice spoke once his answering machine picked up. It was his girlfriend, and she was telling him that she loved him and that she wanted to spend her entire life with him. She continued to say that she could never go on without him then “I love you, Bye.” and hung up.

Based on a true story.

In loving memory of a former friend.