He was standing over the ledge. His eyes cast downward at the rushing icy black water that tipped over the powerful waterfall. His eyes were wide as if he was seeing the world through the wrong end of a telescope. His mouth was turned into a pout, and his shoes scraped the rocky floor that held his feet. His breathing was heavy. He was panting and sweat dripped from the corner of his mouth. His hands were curled and pressed together and his lips moved in prayer.
Up past the heavens the stars were watching him lose his grip on his humanity. They were ready to observe this boy commit his sins. They were ready to watch him twist his life into nothing but dust. They were going to watch him be selfish.
I wanted to yell out to him, and tell him not to jump; but my throat was dry and scratchy like sandpaper. I couldn’t get any words out. I tried to wave my arms towards him, to get his attention, but he didn’t see me. I was tucked away in darkness. I was invisible. That’s when I tried to move, but my feet were rooted into the ground. I couldn’t do anything. Fate had me in a hold, and this boy was going to jump and I couldn’t do anything about it.
Before the boy let go and flung himself over the edge of the waterfall he turned around, only for me to see myself. That’s when I screamed, but it was too late. The boy, or better yet me, had already pitched them self over the waterfall’s edge and vanished into the spray of murky water.
That’s when I woke up, screaming and out of breath. I sat up in my bed, my fingers woven around my bed sheet. I wiped the sweat from my brow and regained my breathing. At some point my mother had found her way into my room. Her face was white and her eyes were tired. She told me to calm down. She told me it was just a dream, but I knew deep down it wasn’t.