A Friend in Need by Mariia Skyrta

She walked down the street hastily,

sometimes her pace was so quick that she almost ran. Her hands covered her face – she was too proud to let others see her weakness. However, there was no one who would bother to notice. The streets were empty, still covered in pre-down mist.

She stopped only when she reached the bridge. Leaning on the handrail, she looked down on the river calmly flowing somewhere. It carried away the teardrops, that kept rolling down her cheeks. Who would have thought these words would hit her so bad?

A clatter of hooves approached from somewhere in the mist. A carriage stopped on the bridge and the door opened.

“Do you need some help, miss?”, a kind woman’s voice asked.

She didn’t even turn around.

“No, just go away”, she replied, annoyed that someone saw her desperate.

“You’re not the one, who jumps, darling. You’re the one who clings to life with all the might possible. And I am too. No use in staying here, in the cold. Get in and tell me what sorrows are there, in your heart”

She hesitated for a few minutes, but then went towards the carriage. The passenger was a lady, probably five or seven years older than she. The lady was wearing a palatial silk dress, but in black color. The mourning left an imprint on her clothes, but not on her face.

“Why would such a beautiful woman cry on the bridge in the cold night?”, the lady asked, looking at her not with judgement or curiosity, but with sympathy.

No one has looked at her like that for a long time. She felt safe and relieved for some reason and told the full story, without hiding or skewing any details. Even the last words, that still echoed in her ears: “I don’t give a damn”.

The lady didn’t interrupt her. When the tale was finished, she reached her hand out. Little did they know, that this handshake would lay the foundation for a lifetime friendship.

“What are you going to do now?”, the lady finally asked.

Scarlett lifted her head up. Her tears dried and a lust for life lighted in her eyes, like it used to after every crook in the lot that she has faced.

“I will think about it tomorrow”, she said.