As you walk along the pier, you see a young girl that is standing over the barrier. You were just an arm's length away from her but it was all unexpected, the events unfolded so quickly. You had no idea what she was doing. The first thing you notice was her dress and her intricate tattoos. All of a sudden, she turned around because she heard your footsteps. And that's when you see it, the sorrow on her face and the tears in her eyes. You froze, completely awestruck by her beauty.
"You can't stop me." She said, wiping her tears on her dress' collar.
"I'm just out on an evening walk. I wasn't planning on interrupting" you gesture at her existence, her presence on the wrong side of the barrier, the dangerous precipice that could lead her to her death if she moved wrong. "whatever's happening here."
"Really?" She seemed even further broken by your words, and you wanted to take them back. Instead you stated what you knew to be true.
"I can't stop you, you're right. I don't particularly want to watch a young beauty like yourself fall to her death, but if you choose to jump, I don't know of any way I could stop that."
"I hate being beautiful." The girl spat, sorrow morphing to anger. "All people ever want is that, is to stare at me like I'm a creation, or hold me like an object, and I don't want to be an object. I want to be a person!"
"If you fall, you're never going to be anything but whatever you've been." You stated bluntly. She stopped. Stared at you. Began climbing back over the railing. She was now close enough you could have touched her if you had any desire to.
"Can I tell you about my tattoos?"
"Of course," and she began explaining how she had been to prison, and how she felt the need to add more tattoos once she was out. She had stories behind all of them, and you listened with rapt attention. She was a person, a fascinating woman with a life story you never would have known had she jumped. Tonight was the beginning of a beautiful new friendship.
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