Christmas On A Bridge

It was very late in the evening on Christmas Eve and an exchange of human lives was being made on an old wooden bridge that was thrown over the Deep Waters of Blackcloak Ridge.

On one side of the bridge stood the figure of Gurty Gastro a nuclear scientist and double agent with enemies all over the world. Gurty stood there in bare feet with chains around his ankles and was flanked by a small group of armed soldiers with guard dogs. One of the soldiers removed the blindfold from Gurty’s eyes as another flashed a bright torchlight into his face and said with a harsh tone, “You’re going home for Christmas. Off you go on your way.”
He was pushed forward but fell on his face. The group of soldiers began to laugh. Then the group leader walked over leant over and removed the locks on the chains from his feet and said, “Get on your feet Gurty and get moving. Freedom is our gift to you – Happy Christmas.”

Stunned and surprised Gurty looked into the face of the soldier and said, “You mean it is Christmas and I can go.”

“That’s right you’ve been a good boy Gurty. Off you go now before we change our minds. “

Gurty didn’t need any more encouragement and so he began to make his way across the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge stood another man with a handgun held to his head by one of his kidnappers. Noel McCurtain was a prisoner of the group known as the BMM (The Black Mountain Mercenaries) Noel had been a prisoner in a cave within the fortress walls of Black Mountain. His skills with solar powered weapons and his new experiments with audio guided missiles had made him a seriously wanted man by many. He also specialised in computer technology and acted as a freelance agent on both sides of the war for and against terror.

Noels life had been spared due a number of factors. The main one being a computer program he had recently released via the global Internet which had had taken over most of the Governments system worldwide. Noel alone held the secret to reversing the virus code named Re-Infector that had hijacked the World Wide Web.

Noel rubbed his hands together as the jingle jangle of the handcuffs cut the silence of the cold night air. He walked across the wooden bridge with his body bent and wrecked with the pains of torture.

After his kidnap the mercenaries kept him just barely alive prisoner inside the maze of caves in Black Mountain. One of the mercenaries looked deeply into Noel’s eyes and shone a torch in his face and he placed his own face in the bright light. Across the face of the mercenary a gash of anxiety wrinkled itself against two glazed eyes. The mercenary said, “Christmas is a time of peace and joy for you this year. You are free to go.”

Noel began to hop across the bridge but lost his balance and fell flat on his face. The man with the torch came over and unlocked the handcuffs and helped Noel to his feet. Noel looked into the face of his liberator and said, “One of these days I’m going to remember to say thank you all over again.”

The mercenary pointed across to the other side of the bridge and said, “Just go and remember how lucky you are. Your freedom lies on the other side of the bridge McCurtain. I hope you find it is a peaceful place wherever you end up.”

Then turning slowly away both separated themselves with a smile. The bridge that lay before Noel was frosted over and as he walked through the fog his heart thumped aloud.

Somewhere in the thick fog Noel was aware of another presence. Alert and very attentive to every sound Noel was met by a lady who carried a small baby. She spoke to Noel for a while.
She told him how she had to run away with her husband. So much so that they had become like refugees. The baby who she loved had no home to call its own. She tried to find a home and asked Noel if he could help.

It seemed everywhere she went there was trouble. It seemed there was no peaceful place at all where she could live and raise her child. Sometimes she slept in fields and orchards other times by riverbanks. The only life she had ever known was that of a refugee. Trouble had followed her and her tears of sorrow had touched Noel.

Suddenly there was another presence on the bridge.

It was then that Gurty emerged from the thick fog on the bridge.

Gurty and Noel met face to face and as Noel asked Gurty where the lady with her baby had gone Gurty asked Noel if he had seen a man with a donkey. Finally both men stood in the magic of that moment with only one thought in their mind. That thought was peace. They wished each other happy Christmas and hugged one another then left.

As both men reached the other side of the bridge they asked their comrades about the people on the bridge but no one other than Noel and Gurty had seen the mysterious lady with her baby the man and a donkey.

As everyone there looked across the bridge the fog lifted and an arc of light in the middle of the bridge appeared. Suddenly moonlight burst through a dark cloud and a ray of light landed at the feet of everyman on both sides of the bridge. Everyone dropped their guns and ran across the bridge to wish their enemies a happy Christmas. For a moment there was peace and joy with all mankind and yes indeed it was Christmas and the snow had begun to fall.

©Copyright 2003 by Paul F. McCann