Churning Waters

The policeman paced the street, looking for signs of trouble. There weren't many people about since it was 11 o'clock at night. A stranger stood in a doorway down the street. Thinking that the stranger meant trouble, the policeman picked up his pace. "Officer, I'm no trouble, I'm just standing here." The stranger's voice sounded low, but the policeman suspected that it was disguised. "There is a curfew you know." The stranger shrugged. "It's a free country, isn't it? And you're out here. I think I've done no wrong." The way of speaking told the policeman that this stranger was not yet twenty years old, probably just some teenager. "How old are you?" "Eighteen." The policeman found that hard to believe, the voice sounded young, and not as educated as an eighteen-year-old would speak. "I'll be going now." The stranger turned to walk away, but then a gust of wind blew up, and the stranger's hat flew off their head. "NO!" Long, brown hair fell down her back, glistening in the streetlamps. The policeman thought that he recognized the hair, and the voice. "Amy?" She turned, her eyes glinting in the street light. "I'm not Amy. Amy id my mother." The policeman stood, disbelief written all over his face. Amy had a daughter? "How is she? Is she doing well?" The girl's mouth turned up into a smirk, "Why do you care? You're just some random police officer. And how do you know my mother?" "You don't know me? I'm your father." "My father left when I was born, he's dead." "No, he's not. Is your name Riley?" "Yes. How'd you know?" "As I said, I'm your father." "I'm leaving, and you can't do anything about it, Father." She stressed the word "father", then spun on her heel and started walking away, unbuttoning her coat as she went. The policeman, stunned, watched her walk away for a bit, then started after her. "Wait! Where is your mother now?" The girl, Riley, ignored him and kept walking. He sprinted, catching her coat, and tried to pull her back and stop her. She squirmed out of the coat and took off running down the street, her long hair flowing behind her. "She's dead," the girl yelled over her shoulder, "And soon, I will join her." The reality of the girl's statement set it and the policeman grabbed his radio. "We need backup at Tracey Bridge. I repeat, backup at Tracey Bridge." After getting that figured out, the policeman ran to his cruiser, jumped in, and sped off, toward the bridge. He got there right as the girl was about to step off the edge. "Stop!" he yelled, slamming his car door and sprinting towards her, towards the daughter he never knew he had, but it was too late. "Bye, Dad. I'm going to see Mom now," and with that, the girl stepped off the edge of the bridge, falling twenty feet into the churning waters beneath. Other police officers arrived just then, lights blaring, sirens screaming, they skidded to a stop. The police officers all got out and surrounded the mourning father. "We're too late," one of them whispered. They all grieved in silence over the child who thought that living would just bring more pain.
The End