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Date Posted: 08:31:54 04/04/02 Thu
Author: Raphaela
Author Host/IP: webcacheB12a.cache.pol.co.uk / 195.92.168.174
Subject: Re: "Miracle Bridge"
In reply to: Mutington 's message, ""Miracle Bridge"" on 04:07:46 04/04/02 Thu

ah such a romantic story but with a twist - I felt cold while reading this as if about to learn that he had died and she was seeing his ghost - then I thought no, he has grown older - but the son finding him linked back to the subtle hint at the beginning when he gave her the ring - and obviously much more. However, I would delete the 'we'll never be apart again' in the last paragraph as it seems to be assuming too much when they have just remet - and loses the strength of the story.

Good to see you here Joyce.

Raphaela


>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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Replies:

  • Thank you Raphaela, your advice is most valuable! -- mutington, 03:38:59 04/06/02 Sat
  • Re: Thank you Raphaela, your advice is most valuable! -- Rapahela, 00:22:58 04/07/02 Sun
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