She wraps the scarf around her head tighter, and turns against the wind. She walks a little faster up the path, toward the bridge that overlaps the highway.
There’s fencing on the sides of the bridge. She runs her fingers over the metal mesh, staring at the cars passing below, almost in a trance.
She looks around at all the graffiti decorating the concrete walls. All say rude or pointless things. Her eyes come to rest on a recent piece. It says “i wish.”
She thinks, then heads home.
-——
Later that night, she returns with a sharpie. Underneath the two words she writes six more, " I could jump off this bridge. "
She steps back, and reads aloud: “i wish I could jump off this bridge.”
She goes home, fighting the wind on the way.
-——
A few days later she returns. Under her writings, there are fresh words. They say simply, “you are loved.”
She stares as tears roll down her cheeks because she knows it’s true.
Everyone is loved.