It was raining. Pouring. The river was raised significantly. A bridge. A silhouette. A man standing on some bricks. The ledge. The rain. The bridge. The river. Converged, pivoting his life. A man. Looking down, wearing black. His dark black hair was soaked. He just stood there. Looking down as the rain hit the flowing and rushing river. His foot moved ever so slightly. Then, he lifted his foot
[???] Hey mister! Why are you standing on that ledge? You might fall!
The voice came through to the man just slightly. A boy's voice. Couldn't be older than 10. The boy stood a couple of meters away from the man on the ledge. The man said nothing.
[Little boy] Get off of that, mister! Please! You might fall and hurt yourself!
The boy had seemed genuinely concerned. His voice was high-pitched, and the boy seemed to have a small teddy bear in his hands, or rather something that resembled such.
[???] That's the point. That's why I'm up here.
The little boy seemed confused by the man's statement about wanting to stand there for the sole purpose of hurting himself. The boy stepped closer, reaching about midway through the bridge, which was where the man had been.
[Little boy] Why do you wanna hurt yourself, mister? Isn't that something you shouldn't want to do?
[???] Because I have nothing…nothing at all…but it's not like it matters…even if I jumped it wouldn't be enough to do me in…
The little boy walked closer to the man and tugged at his pants slightly. The man's pants were also soaking wet.
[Little boy] Please don't jump, mister. You're my friend, and I don't want my friends getting hurt.
The man finally broke his long, intense stare into the water, and he turned his head slightly toward the boy. The boy looked at the man's back, and that's when he saw that the man's face was covered with what looked to be a mask. The man had an odd-looking zipped head covering that encapsulated his whole head while leaving his hair exposed. The boy saw this unique-looking mask, but he thought little of it; rather, he was more concerned with the man's safety, so he reached for the man's hand. The man had his hands resting by his side; he hadn't moved an inch since the boy said something, which meant his right foot was still not on the ledge; however, all of a sudden, the man lowered and planted his foot back on the ledge. His hands moved ever so slightly, and he brought his index finger towards the boy's open hand.
[???] Why are you calling me a friend?
[little boy] Because I would cry if you got hurt. I don't want you hurting yourself, and so that makes us friends!
The man just stood there. He, of course, didn't understand the boy's logic, but it didn't matter; for some reason, the man felt obligated to the boy. The boy's voice and short words had hit the man tremendously; no one did quite as much as this boy had done to this man. He felt compelled to hold the boy's hand, and so he did.
[little boy] There you go, mister!
The man stepped down from the ledge as the rain continued to pour. The man looked back over the ledge and saw the water. He then looked at the boy.
[little boy] I bet it looks scary! But I can't see it from down here, and I think I'm happy I can't see it, because I would be scared if I looked over. Say, what's your name, mister?
The man looked back over the ledge, then at the boy again, and said
[???] Zip…
The little boy smiled gleefully
[little boy] Zip! I like that name, it's cool! Well, it's nice to be friends, Zip!
The little boy started leading Zip away from the bridge entirely. They walked side by side in the pouring rain, going under a small overpass that covered them from the rain just for a moment.
[Little boy] I want to take you to mama! She will see how cool I am to have a grown-up friend! Oh, and my name is Sirius! Oh, and my friends at school will see how cool you are! You will love everybody, I'm sure of it!
And off into the distance they went…