Transience

molti anni fa...

"Once upon a time..."
A girl fell over a cliff. She believes she was pushed, but the authorities have been unable to identify the suspect. She finds this somewhat odd, as she's pretty sure she knows who did it; her mother was pushed off the same cliff many years ago, and apparently heard the same footsteps just before she fell.

Anyway, down and down the girl tumbled. Because she'd been pushed over at least once before, she wasn't too frightened. She knew that eventually she'd reach the bottom and be able to find the path that slowly winds back to where she began. Still, landing hurts and she was inclined to avoid it if at all possible.

So she scrabbled and grabbed and clutched at everything which caught her eye as she tumbled down, finally managing to grasp the branch of a small tree which stuck out of the sheer cliff face. "That's ok," she thought, "I'll just catch my breath here and then start climbing back up again." But her arms were weakening and the tree started to pull from the cliff, small rocks and dirt flying away from its roots and hitting her in the face. She began to slip.

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuckety-fuck," she thought to herself. For falling off a cliff tends to make her very angry and leads to a potty-mouth.

Is it too late to call for someone with a rope? And, if someone comes, we she be pulled half-way up and left to fend for herself, only to be pushed over the edge again at some point in the future? Or will the authorities listen to her, post a sketch of the suspect, and keep her safe from marauding goons?

Posted by rachel at April 28, 2004 10:12 AM