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Date Posted: 04:07:46 04/04/02 Thu
Author: Mutington
Author Host/IP: spider-ta032.proxy.aol.com / 152.163.205.57
Subject: "Miracle Bridge"

Miracle Bridge

Joyce E. O'Neal ©2002
All Rights Reserved





Gina couldn't remember how many times she had taken leisurely drives, and almost always found herself at the old familiar covered bridge. Something very special drew her here over and over, again and again through out these many years, and every so often she just had to return. There it was, the same irregular opening where two broken planks of wood exposed the gleaming sun, and a view of Newton's Creek as it flowed briskly just twenty feet below. She thought it a bit odd that the jagged hole never changed. The rest of the old bridge was starting to show signs of wear and tear, creaking weakness and even the roof seemed to sag in certain areas...yet that unforgettable hole remained the same as if time had stood still, as if she had never been away from Collingswood at all.

Just as every other time she had come to stand on the bridge, she gazed once again through the jagged portal looking beyond the budding forest trees, beyond the distant trailing paths along the water's edge, and beyond the puffy clouds that hovered like a cushioned canopy. Gina was looking towards a lost dream from long ago, and always with a hope for a someday miracle. She walked the length of the covered bridge as she had done so many times before, then stopped to rest on the same tree stump where they used to sit. Again she lost herself in the tranquility of the moment, and the reassuring comfort of her favorite place.

In her vision, she saw a summer day instead of spring's new dawn, where the tree tops were lofty and densely full of leafy growth, where pretty purple pansies bordered each side of the dirt road, and beautiful Monarch butterflies fluttered between the varigated petals of each full bloom. In her vision, everything looked exactly as it had on that fateful day so long ago just a few weeks after graduation. Joey was leaving the next day for the jungles of Africa and the Peace Corps. She desperately wanted him to change his mind, but knew that it had been his dream all through highschool.

"Oh Gina, please don't cry, you know how much I love you Babe. This is just something I need to do; it won't be that long before we're together again..I promise. Won't you say that you'll wait for me..?"

She remembered their promises of the heart, the friendship ring he placed on her finger, and her moment of sweet surrender right here beside the bridge in the tall golden grasses along the stream..so long ago, eighteen yearsago actually. It seemed as if it were almost a dream. Gina touched her finger, turning the intricately designed filigree band of silver, while closing her eyes to relive the experience as she had done so many times before. She felt her heart race, her skin flush, and then she heard herself sigh..then finally cry.

"Gina..my precious Gina..I love you....."

Startled by a sudden rushing gust of wind, Gina quickly regained her composure. For a brief moment, she imagined hearing his calling voice on the breeze as if it were a soft and subtle vibrating reply to her emotional anguish. Again she heard the echo of her name. Impossible, this had to be impossible, and yet strangely she felt..that she wasn't alone. Quickly she turned. There at the end of the bridge stood the shadow of a man, or was her imagination producing a mirage, a hallucination, an illusion. She blinked twice to refocus only to see that the haunting silhouette was still there. She told herself that this wasn't reality eventhough she felt a pounding in her chest, and a lump in her throat.

Slowly, tentatively, and cautiously Gina started walking in his direction. Oh God, could it be..could it really be? Closer now she saw his handsomely rugged face that appeared almost unchanged. His smiles lines were a little deeper; his hair was now peppered with streaks of silver-gray, but the glimmer in his sienna eyes was still the same..unmistakably the same.

"Joey..is that you Joey?" she whispered, as her gait quickened to an almost running pace, and now Joey Winfield was running too.

Into the grasp of each others arms they clung, with an embrace that seemed to never end. He kissed her with a long awaited hunger, deeply and passionately until every fiber of her being was set aflame.

"Oh Gina..my lovely Gina," he whispered. "I searched for you when I returned to Collingswood, but everyone said that you and your family moved to the midwest. I was lost without you..devastated, and after a few months I went back to Africa..then later South America. I never knew about..about our..son, until he found me last week. Oh Gina..I never knew.....! He's Wonderful Gina, and so much like you. He's...."

"Shhhhh.." she whispered placing her finger to his trembling lips, "That's all behind us now. We'll never be apart again, besides..it isn't nice to interrupt a miracle.."


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