The Bridge
James’s soul had just been ripped apart. His beloved Isabel
shot, in front of him, and for what? Crossing a bridge to be with the one she
loved.
There were always consequences in life. James knew that. The path you choose to follow can change your
life forever, but sometimes the path to take is laid out for you. James knew
that, but it did not provide comfort or bring Isabel back.
There was always going to be consequences to the Cotton
States declaring their secession from the United States. James knew that too, but Isabel was still lost
forever.
James looked down at his wife’s limp body. He could feel his
soul, once a bright light fuelled by Isabel’s love was now like a flame slowly
being starved of oxygen, flickering weaker and weaker as every moment passed. Darker
and darker as Isabel became colder and colder.
James knew that by living in South Carolina, there would be personal
consequences to Abraham Lincoln’s election to President. In James’s eyes
Lincoln was right to seek to abolish slavery. Why should one white man have the
power of life or death over a Black man. It was insane. He struggled everyday
when having to punish Black men for not working hard enough, even though they
were doing more than any white man ever would. His wife Isabel shared his
passion for freedom and free speech, a passion that brought them together.
James’s mind drifted back to a happier time, when he first
meet Isabel. There was an instant
chemistry between them, James recalled. Working on Isabel’s fathers’ cotton
plantation, James was instantly attracted to Isabel’s long flowing hair and
brilliant blue eyes but it was more than that. There was something deeper that
drew them closer, a bond that both felt, and neither could resist. The need to be fair and kind to their fellow
Man, a sense that everyone was equal, no matter what the colour of their skin
was.
Happy married life followed, James and Isabel were seen as
the perfect couple. Soul mates, the only thing missing were children; God had
not seen it fit to bless them with such gifts, but still they wanted for
nothing. They had each other, what more could they want. They were an
unbreakable bond.
Then the day came that changed their lives forever. The day
of enlistment. James’s mind drifted back
to that fateful day. He remembered with anger being enlisted to the army. He
did not share their political views, but was told the simple truth. Fight for
your State, or you and your family burn. There was no choice.
Isabel and James sat down and discussed their future. It was
clear that he may not return, but with no income, how would Isabel cope? What
could they do to remain together?
Isabel and James turned to James’s cousin William. Sharing
the same views as them, but invalid, he would not be enlisted. William agreed to support Isabel while James
was away, protecting her as a brother would, while to the outside world they
would be seen as lovers, to hide the true beliefs that all three held so strongly.
James’ mind was dragged back to the present. The day had
started so well. He had managed to send word to William that he was heading
back home, but was on the “wrong side” of the Bridge. During the war, the town
had been divided as both armies made claim to the land. Now “The Bridge” was
all that stood between the two warring armies.
James had defected and was now free on the republic State.
The side of freedom and justice. The plan was for Isabel to leave under
the cover of darkness and cross the bridge. However Solders had barred her way,
and she could not cross by boat, as William did not have the $100 she needed,
having spent the last of his money helping support his Family flee earlier in
the war.
James recalled how he could see Isabel talking passionately
with the solder on the bridge, urging him to let her pass. The bond between
James and Isabel was pulling them together once more.
Then behind Isabel, James could see the body of William
being carried by a mob, chanting Isabel’s name, calling her a liar and seeking
her blood. James moved onto the bridge,
but was too far to protect Isabel, each step he took brought him closer to her,
but time was running out.
James weeps has he remembers the frightened Isabel, turn and
look for him. Weeps turn to uncontrollable sobs as James recalls the calm
descend on Isabel’s face as she pushed the Solider and ran towards him. Just as
they touch once more, one fleeting touch as their fingers meet, Isabel
straightened with confusion. Looking at James she falls to the ground, looking
one final time at him. That look etched forever in James’s memory, Isabel one
final time telling him she loved him.
As James holds Isabel one final time, he hears the shouts
and the load gun shot. Without his love, he feels nothing but emptiness, and
does not even feel the pain slowly spreading through his body. Slowly he slides next to Isabel.
His head meets Isabel’s, and with his last breath, whispers
into her ear. As his lips meet hers for the final time, James feels at one. In
the distance light, Isabel is waiting for him.
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