The Boy on the Bridge

by Sam Mariano

It’s like my heart knows that loving him will be hard, that I need to preserve all the tender, protective feelings I’m experiencing right now or we’ll never make it.

The integrity of an unbroken promise won’t be sufficient solace if next time Dennis attacks Hunter, I have to go to his funeral.

I would choose you over almost anyone in the world, but… you made me choose between you and my own self-respect. That’s one fight you’ll never win.”

“I never stopped thinking about you. I lived on the other side of the world, you weren’t even part of my life anymore, but still… you were there. And I kinda knew it was crazy. I even convinced myself you were only preserved in my memory, that if I came back, it wouldn’t be like that, you know? You were almost a fantasy, like a book I never got to read the end of.”