Chicken

By: Christina Csiszar

"We're gathered here today to honor the death of Clarissa May Thompson. She died needlessly and will be greatly missed by family and friends."

I hear the reverend say this to us. I hear him, but I don't really listen. I'm too busy staring at Clarissa's tombstone. '1986-2004,' just seventeen years of life. "Oh why did she have to be so stupid?" I sigh, "What did I do wrong?" I stand there and think back to that windy and stormy Thursday…

We were skipping school to go to the two bridges by Montgomery Cliff. It's kind of like a hangout for rebels like us. My friend Ali had a six pack of Corona's, but I wasn't going to drink.

"Trixi!" Clarissa yelled, "Will you stop fiddling with your stupid earrings and drive?" She kicked at me the from the back seat.

"Yeah Trix, hurry up." Ali said eagerly from beside me. I smiled and started the car. It took less then ten minutes to get to the cliff. Ali and Clarissa had already had some beer and were pretty drunk by the time they to got to the bridges. I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up as it whistled around the windows as if it were trying to break in. I got out and headed toward the edge of the cliff to where the two bridges were.

"Wait up Trixi!" Clarissa called to me. I slowed down and pushed my black and purple hair out of my violet eyes. Ali ran up beside me and asked,

"Hey, do you wanna play chicken?" Clarissa answered for the both of us,

"Yeah we'd love to. I just gotta think up a good dare." So she sat down and thought about it. I just shook my head and walked over to the bridges. I looked over the edge just as a bolt of lightning ripped across the sky and illuminated the deep crevice. I could see the other bridge about seven feet away. Ali suddenly appeared beside me and she giggled excitedly,

"Hey, let's try and jump from one bridge to the other! You can go first Trix." I just shot a look at her,

"No way, it's too dangerous. We could die or get really injured. Bet you never thought of that!" Clarissa laughed at me,

"Why not Trixi? Are you chicken?" She and Ali burst out laughing.

"I'm not chicken! And I'll prove it!" I climbed up onto the top of the rail and gripped the post. Suddenly the other bridge seemed miles away. I glanced down. That was a big mistake. The wind whipped my hair and almost made me slip. I clutched the post tighter. I can't do this. I really can't. And I won't!

"Guys I can't do this, I just can't! It's too dangerous, and you shouldn't try it either!"

Ali and Clarissa were pretty drunk by then and Clarissa walked up to me. She was moving like a blob of jelly and was having a hard time even standing straight,

"Oh you're just chicken. Hee-hee, chicken, chicken, chicken! I bet even I can do it!" Clarissa said and pushed past me as I was getting down. She started to climb up and I made a grab at her,

"Stop Clarissa! I don't think you should do this!" She jerked her arm away and got up onto the rail. I could do nothing in those next few moment but watch her helplessly, Ali so out of it that she couldn't even try and do anything helpful.

"See ya on the other side!" She yelled, and leaped. Those were the last words I heard her say. She slipped and fell down, screaming all the way. Ali and I screamed too. We didn't remember who called 911, just short snippets of what happened after. The both of us sitting in the hospital, the doctors telling us she died on impact and then… I zone back into the present. Now I'm here and she's not, I think quietly. The reverend is just finishing his sermon,

"Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Amen."

As everyone moves silently into their cars a sad calm moves over the crowd. I can't help but think, Hey, I may be chicken, but at least I'm alive.