I cannot describe the passage through the bridge.
I
can only say that there were other people on the bridge, but they were not of
this world. Screams, groans, and urgings in foreign tongues punctuated
with sudden silences assaulted my ears as soon we entered. I could no longer
see the other side of the river; the light inside the bridge was extremely
bright and extremely dark at the same time. In the eerie light, I could
no longer distinguish the chief in front of me. I reached out for him, but grasped
nothing. I stumbled forward closing my eyes to strange sights eddying in the
air around me. Such fantastic sensations brushed up against me, yet I continued
m
y
journey forward, praying for the horrors to end. At one point, I thought 
I
heard the chief yelling "boy" and I stumbled. As my eyes fluttered
open, I bethought myself inside some glorious temple and heard ominous chanting
swirling around me. Phantasms in white robes surrounded me.
I closed my eyes tight and ran forward, ignoring all that I encountered. With each step, I hoped that it would land on the good earth. Slowly, the phantasmagoric sounds seemed to diminish. I paused for breath; the ground below me disappeared; I fainted.
Continue on to 5. The Palace
Click on the links below to read the story
Introduction - 1. The Arrival - 2. The River - 3. The Monster - 4. The Bridge - 5. The Palace
This story was created by Heather
Cleary for the UCLA class, IS287a.
Photographs are courtesy of Howard
Besser.