Preview: “The Wandering Tavern”

You are standing on a bridge. It’s after midnight on New Year’s Day, but the sun hasn’t risen. The last of the revelers have gone to bed—drunk and hopeful—but you can’t go back home. You stare at the dark river, moving fast under the bridge, and contemplate jumping.

How would it feel to fall through the sky? Would you lose consciousness as your body hit the surface or as the rapids swept you away? Would you even feel the freezing water? 

You place a foot on the barrier and lift yourself off the ground. You lean against the railing. The wind is rough and relentless on your face, and you have a moment of vertigo as you look down at the water from this dangerous vantage point. You take a breath, ready for it to be your last —

—then a car honks.

Headlights flood the bridge. You squint past their brilliance and see a bus. A shadow leans out of the door and waves at you. 

You step off the ledge. You feel caught, and guilty, and you marvel at how you’ve managed to screw even this up. You fold your arms across your chest, wrapping your coat tighter around yourself, and approach the bus. Once past the lights, you can see it’s a school bus, painted iridescent blue, with a sign above the windshield that says, The Wandering Tavern.