Looking Across The Canyon Alternate Ending.

Looking Across The Canyon (Alternate Ending)

by Suz Richards

Jessie stood, staring blankly at the crowds of people as they hustled past. Leaning against the lockers, she tried to act casual. People passed, their faces holding blank expressions. Friendly voices were heard above the hum of conversations, but not a single word was sent her way. She didn't want this. Why did bad things always happen to her?

Her mind lapsed back to a time long forgotten, or at least she wished it was. The day was clear in her head, like a photograph. The keys were clenched in her fist. Her head was spinning. The flames filled the night air with black smoke, it burned her eyes as she scrambled over the wall into the woods. A root caught her foot and she cried out as she fell harshly onto the ground. A broken bottle bottle lay on the floor next to her, a piece of glass deeply imbedded in her arm. She struggled on away from the blaze, unable to look back. She knew the river, she knew the canyon. She headed along the familiar path. In the air, the sound of sirens wailed, causing her heart to thump somewhere in her throat.

She reached the clearing. The moonlight shining down onto her face. her breath raced out of her mouth, forming clouds of vapour in the night air. The depths of the canyon fell into the black below her. The faint smell of a campfire lingering in the leaves. She stood staring blankly into the abyss. She'd never thought about how it would end for her. Looking into it's dark depths her mind filled with images of heaven and hell. Where would she end up?

She shifted her feet as a rock gave out beneath her. She slipped, her body tipping over the edge. She yelped, her heart skipping a beat. She flipped through the air, free falling as the walls of rock rushed past her eyes, the gloom swallowed her.

Meanwhile in a small village at the bottom of the canyon...

"For the last time, we did not order a giant trampoline!" James yelled as a stubborn delivery man stood holding a clip board in his outstretched hand, looking slightly irritated.

"Well you could of told me before I set it up". James was about to let rip a stream of profanities but something caught his attention in the sky. Something was falling from the cliff. The delivery man turned to glance at what had caught the guys attention. A girl fell screaming through the air, she was heading right for them. She plummeted quickly towards the ground. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable thud.

Jessie screamed until she ran out of breath. She shut her eyes, dreading what was to come next. Her body hit something, but instead of her crumpling, the surface molded to her. Then her body was being lifted up again, she left the surface and as quickly as she had fallen, shot back up through the air. She looked down. A trampoline? Is she dreaming? The cliff face fell away beneath her and she rose up over the canyon. Her feet dropping to land on solid ground. She collapsed to her knees, tears welling in her eyes.

"Jessie Smith?" A loud voice shouted. Glancing up she saw the flashing lights before she saw the men dressed in blue, guns at the ready.

"You're under arrest on attempt of property destruction and arson."

"Aw crap" she muttered

They helped her to her feet before cuffing her and placing her into the police car.

It had been 6 months since that night. She had done her time. They had told her she could go back to school. Like it was a privilege. She tried to return to normal, but nothing, or no one, was ever the same again.