I sat on the edge of the bridge and watched as the cars drove by, a hundred miles per hour, not bothering to look right towards the city or left towards the sea. I often sat on the edge of this bridge, waiting for one person to stop and recognize the beauty that was right beside them. Everyone says they are searching for happiness, but I think that they wouldn’t know happiness if it was staring them right in the eyes.
I sat on the edge of the bridge and whispered all my questions to the wind created by the cars bustling on their way to wherever. Am I the only one who sees the world this way? How far is the way down? Does the universe stare back at you when you’re watching the sun set? How many cars could fit on this bridge? Would anyone notice if the sun didn’t set today?
I sat on the edge of the bridge, willing the horizon to look back at me. I saw the beauty of the sun dipping into the sea. I saw the pinks and purples and oranges of the sky the sun was leaving behind. I saw the cotton candy clouds, the wind moving them ever so slowly that it looked like they weren’t moving at all. I saw all the beauty, but I am afraid I am the only one that does.
I sat on the edge of the bridge and swung my feet back and forth, creating my own little wind. The real wind rustled my hair, and I ran a hand through it, only to have it flop right back in front of my eyes, atop my glasses. I had hair in front of my eyes and far less than perfect vision yet I could still see the world better than anyone on that bridge.
I sat on the edge of the bridge every day for one year, eight months, sixteen days, and watched the beauty, waited for someone else to recognize what I was personally amazed by each day, and each day every car blew past, everybody’s head in the clouds, swept away like leaves in the wind.
For the rest of my life I vowed to come to the edge of this bridge every day, and wait for someone to see what I saw.
*  *  *  *
“He always saw the good in the world. No matter what happened, he would say to me every day, look how beautiful the world is today. He was amazed by the sunset and adored the clouds. He dreamed of the sky and I saw stars in his eyes. All he wanted was for everybody else to see the beauty he saw. Every day he went to the bridge and watched the sun set, he said it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was his favorite part of the day.”
She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“He died doing the thing he loved, watching the sun set. I am here today to plead all of you to be safe drivers. My son didn’t have to die. The sun had just gone down and my son was standing up to come back home to me, and a drunk driver swerved off the road and hit him. He fell 103 feet into the water, and died on impact. This could happen to anyone.”
The woman paused as the wind ruffled her hair.
“Please don’t let it be you.”