-Please see me-

1/3

            A heavy gust rolled by and hit the lone girl straight on, the wind caused the embroidered material of her dress to flap wildly against her legs and she lifted her free hand up to clutch onto her sunhat before it could be blown away while keeping her other hand completely steady with the camera pointed at the horizon. Another blast of wind blew from behind almost as if to blow her off, she took a step back from the ledge of the high cliff but kept her eye on the viewfinder, her shiny red heel carefully lowered down onto the uneven rocky slope. Her brown locks wisped into the camera’s view, blowing erratically yet purposefully under the sunlight and she snapped a photo to capture the surreal memory.

            She took another, then another, and she lifted the foot she had just stepped back with and brought it back forward as she continued to click her camera. The wind was picking up again, this time pulling her backwards away from the horizon and she stepped forward again, resisting the immense force attempting to push her back but it began to be too much of a hassle to enjoy the otherwise spectacular sight so she pulled the camera away and blinked from the harsh sunlight that was abated behind the lenses. She stared ahead at the waves that looked surprisingly calm even with the tremendous winds, her gaze slowly dropped and she only noticed how close she was to the ledge, much closer than she originally was when she swore she would fall. The sole of her shoe was just an inch from the ledge, so close yet not enough, with a tilt of her head she took a micro step forward so the red would meet the blue of the waves below.

            Ari raised her hand and was about to snap one last photo before she was tugged back roughly, an unfamiliar large hand was gripping her shoulder so tightly that it was almost painful and she winced as she felt herself plummet backwards, her feet lost balance on the rocky cliff when she was moving so fitfully. She fell into softness, a warm body that held her up and when she looked up she recognised the man from the local village. “You…”

            “Are you okay?” he helped her back up to her feet, his hands still holding onto her shoulders as he lowered his gaze to meet hers. He looked concerned, his brows were furrowed and he was studying her for injuries, Ari thought it was strange that he did considering they were practically strangers. “Jumping won’t solve anything-.”

            “I wasn’t going to jump,” she spoke clearly, her dulcet voice seemed to have surprised him, he immediately let go of her and backed away to put some comfortable space between them. “… Where did you come from?”

            “I… I uh was walking by the pier and I saw you up here… it’s a pretty common spot for… um suicides so I got worried…” he replied slowly, avoiding her gaze as he began to feel major embarrassment from the ridiculousness of it all. “Sorry…”

            “It’s fine,” she nodded back with a brief smile. “No harm done.”

            “Really?” he lightened up and pointed somewhere behind her. “Even with that?”

            Ari whipped her head around and nearly gasped when she saw her camera lying between some rocks, she turned around but before she moved he hurried past her and picked it up for her. He looked guilty as his fingers ran along the fresh dents and scrapes on the thin digital camera, he held onto it for a moment longer before walking back and handing it back to her. It felt somewhat foreign in her hands and she fiddled with the tabs and switches to make sure they were okay before booting it up. The man beside her anxiously asked if anything was broken.

            “The screen’s slightly cracked but nothing serious…” she mumbled back, more focused on the camera at this moment, she did not realise that he was still there and nervously waiting for her to be done with her evaluation. She only noticed him when he began shifting in front of her. “… Are you okay?”

            He looked back at her strangely before turning it around by asking if her camera was really okay, he seemed to be feeling really guilty and Ari tried to explain that it was alright but he was insisting on giving her some compensation money. Even when Ari left and descended the hill he still chased after her vowing to make it up to her, Ari simply walked on hoping he would just leave her alone but he followed her all the way down the rock path and at the moment after they got back to street level did she wonder why an earth anyone would bother running up that hill just to try to stop some stranger from hypothetically ending their life.

            Ari stopped randomly causing him to nearly run into her and she flicked her head around to look at him, he was only a little taller than her and had a small tan that seemed common for the folks in this village but there was also… warmth.

            “Wait here,” he leaned towards her slightly before backing away towards the seaside. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back!”

            Just like that he was off running and Ari held up her camera and managed to snap a photo of his disappearing backside as he furiously ran towards the pier where he must have been earlier. The photo came out rather well but perhaps a little gloomy looking for her tastes but she decided to keep it nonetheless and let it serve as a reminder of this strange incident. He had asked her to wait but Ari was not quite sure… mostly due to his sense of duty when she was not all that bothered about it.

            After a few seconds she began walking the other way and as Ari headed back to the small inn she went on snapping photos, she was making decent progress and getting some nice photos with the warm orangey exposure the sky was giving her right as the sun was setting, she paused by a tall pine tree pointing her camera up at the branches and through the viewfinder she was met with a spectacular view of the sunlight pouring through the small crevices between the leaves. Ari held her breath and her finger hesitated for a split second before she clicked capture but as she did something unbelievable happened – her camera made a clicking noise and then it went dark.

            Ari’s eyes widened as she pulled the camera away from her face and immediately tried to figure out what went wrong, it didn’t seem like anything she did but the fall must have had a larger impact than she thought. She was upset but mostly she was worried about the photos she had already taken, she unpinned the battery compartment and took out the tiny memory card hoping that they were still safe. As she fiddled with the delicate objects she once again let the man from before sneak up on her.

            “Why did you leave?!”

            Ari squeaked in shock and the memory card flew from her fingers straight to the ground, without even turning to him she got off her feet to look for the card amongst the dirt. She was sure she saw where it fell but the longer she searched, pushing dead leaves aside with her bare hands, the more it felt like she wasn’t going to find it and the thought made her shoulders shake and she pressed her lips into a fine line as she pushed herself to continue looking. She heard the man approach and felt his warmth as he knelt down beside her and started searching, he was quiet and she wasn’t all that sure if he knew what she was looking for but he carried on looking.

            A few long minutes passed with no results and he had went on to look at a different area, Ari glanced over at him when he got up thinking he may have been leaving but she watched him as he knelt down near the tree with his backside facing her. Every time he brushed more leaves out of the way she could see his strained shoulder blades moving under his slightly see through white button up, she wanted to call out to him and say something, perhaps to tell him to give up since she has but she only continued to look at him.

            “… Is this what you’re looking for?”

            He turned around after a while, he was holding something out to her but she