Test Post - Please Rate

This is a test posting to help resolve issues and try new features.

Joseph perched precariously on the narrow concrete berm, staring at the pounding waves 100 feet below. He paused momentarily, then his decision became crystal clear. He noticed movement to his left, a young man was approaching. The young man smiled and waved a friendly hello with his right arm, while his left arm cradled a dark object. The next few seconds were critical, so Joseph knew he must act now.

On the lower level of the bridge an accident had forced a car off the side and it hung half on and half off the bridge. He could see two small children, their mouths open in screams silenced by the wind and pounding waves below. The driver, an elderly woman, was slumped over the steering wheel, not moving.

Joseph had never liked heights. When he heard the crash and stopped to see what had happened, his first inclination was to get back in his car and let emergency workers do their thing. But he didn’t see anyone crowding around the wrecked car, and there were no comforting sounds of sirens approaching. Didn’t anyone care enough to stop or call 911?

So he climbed over the guardrail to assess the situation. The approaching young man must have thought he was a jumper and was planning to talk him down, but Joseph knew what he must do. It had been many years since his gymnastic days, but he still had good balance and upper arm strength. So he held onto the guard rail with one arm and stretched to reach the bridge guy wire that ran between levels of the bridge.

If he couldn’t hold on, or lost control he knew he would die. But the children’s terrorized faces would be with him for a lifetime if he didn’t do something. He got a good grip on the guy wire and swung his legs over, clamping around the thick steel cable. Slowly lowering himself, he gained confidence that he could get to the car in time. It was rocking a bit in the wind, but looked stable.

It was slow going, but he was making progress, willing himself not to think of the pounding water below. A movement above him caught his eye. The young man who thought he was a jumper was leaning over the guardrail. “Call 911!” Joseph screamed. But the young man continued to smile while he pointed something at Joseph.

“A gun? He’s pointing a gun at me?” Joseph tried to raise one hand to sig…the flash was blinding. An instant to realize he was shot, then quiet, black, spinning darkness.

He awoke with a start! Sweat poured from every pore and his heart was pounding. “Oh, my God! That was a dream, more like a nightmare. So real.” Slowly his heart came back to normal and he could sit up. “It was that Bourne adventure movie,” he said to himself. “Bourne was being chased and jumped off a bridge to save himself.”

“I dreamed I was Bourne. And that large everything pizza and three beers to wash it down. Never again.”
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