Skyway Avenue
1/1
I checked my cell phone for the time before I set it down on the sidewalk: It was 5:14 pm. It was almost the time I had set for my leap of faith. I emptied my pockets and placed the items on the sidewalk next to my phone along with the note I had written for this occasion.
With just thirty eight seconds until the time I had allocated for myself, I gingerly swung my right leg over the barrier and rested it on the small ledge. I took two deep breaths and hesitated for a second, but upon hearing the music I had set for my alarm tone, the one I had set so it was the last song I would ever hear, my mind abolished all thoughts and allowed me to swing the other leg over. There was a cold wind blowing the bridge that night. September 28th 2008.
I took one deep breath and pushed off from the small ledge I was standing on. I instantly regretted it. I dreaded the four seconds I would have before my death. I heard Skyway Avenue fading away above me.
One.
I did not feel my body protesting and changing course against the cold, strong wind.
Two.
I did not feel my brain forcing my body to turn around so my legs would hit the cold surface first.
Three.
I did not hear shouting from beneath me.
Four.
I did, however, feel my body hit the water, that seemed to be like hitting solid concrete at the ferocious seventy five miles per hour that I was travelling at. The clothes were ripped straight from my cold body as I entered the icy liquid. My life flashed before my eyes.
I heard voices, but I did not feel a man pulling me out of the water.
I heard sirens, but failed to see the lights.
I then ceased to work my senses and was left alone to my thoughts.
How did my endeavour fail? This can’t happen. I should be dead, either floating to the surface or sinking to the silt at the bottom of the salty water. What did I do wrong?
I did not realize I was being taken to a hospital; I was too lost in my fading thoughts to notice any movement. Everything then went black.
The next thing I knew was that I heard the ominous beating and muffled voices.
My name is Gina Rue, and I am forty three years old.
And I survived the Sunshine Skyway bridge.
'Cause if you jump
I will jump too
We will fall together
From the building's ledge
Never looking back at what we've done
We'll say it was love
'Cause I would die for you
On skyway avenue
So what's left to prove
We have made it through
With just thirty eight seconds until the time I had allocated for myself, I gingerly swung my right leg over the barrier and rested it on the small ledge. I took two deep breaths and hesitated for a second, but upon hearing the music I had set for my alarm tone, the one I had set so it was the last song I would ever hear, my mind abolished all thoughts and allowed me to swing the other leg over. There was a cold wind blowing the bridge that night. September 28th 2008.
I took one deep breath and pushed off from the small ledge I was standing on. I instantly regretted it. I dreaded the four seconds I would have before my death. I heard Skyway Avenue fading away above me.
One.
I did not feel my body protesting and changing course against the cold, strong wind.
Two.
I did not feel my brain forcing my body to turn around so my legs would hit the cold surface first.
Three.
I did not hear shouting from beneath me.
Four.
I did, however, feel my body hit the water, that seemed to be like hitting solid concrete at the ferocious seventy five miles per hour that I was travelling at. The clothes were ripped straight from my cold body as I entered the icy liquid. My life flashed before my eyes.
I heard voices, but I did not feel a man pulling me out of the water.
I heard sirens, but failed to see the lights.
I then ceased to work my senses and was left alone to my thoughts.
How did my endeavour fail? This can’t happen. I should be dead, either floating to the surface or sinking to the silt at the bottom of the salty water. What did I do wrong?
I did not realize I was being taken to a hospital; I was too lost in my fading thoughts to notice any movement. Everything then went black.
The next thing I knew was that I heard the ominous beating and muffled voices.
My name is Gina Rue, and I am forty three years old.
And I survived the Sunshine Skyway bridge.
'Cause if you jump
I will jump too
We will fall together
From the building's ledge
Never looking back at what we've done
We'll say it was love
'Cause I would die for you
On skyway avenue
So what's left to prove
We have made it through