For Sean

[polly_okeefe]

I slipped through the crowds of people shouting "Happy New Year", pushed open the rec room door and stepped into the Compound corridor. Already here, the noises of the party sounded muffled and unreal. Like an echo

Comments

[missingthekeep]

It takes Sean a couple minutes to put it together that something's the matter, but he's admittedly a little distracted and for once, it's not a bad thing. He catches a glimpse of Polly and that Bridge kid out of the corner of his eye in the lead up to midnight, but once the countdown starts, Meredith does a very good job of keeping his attention focused squarely on her. A flash of colour winding its way quickly through the crowd is all that Polly's exit really registers as while he rings in the new year in considerably better fashion than he did the last one. Eventually, once the heat of the moment winds down a bit and he has the chance to put two and two together, he realizes that Polly must have beat feet in a hurry to get out of there, which of course only sets him to wondering why, and as much as he's enjoying things for once, he excuses himself for a couple minutes to curiously stick his head out the Compound doors to see if he can glean what's up

[polly_okeefe]

For a moment, I couldn't reply. I stood there, my face in my hands, sobbing. It was a struggle to get enough control to speak. "Bridge," I gasped at last. Then, "Gone."

Saying it made it real. The tears redoubled.

[missingthekeep]

Well, so much for this being something simple that a couple questions could clear up in a hurry. Sure, Sean had been getting a little tired of the party atmosphere, but this isn't exactly what he'd envisioned swapping it out for.

"What, jus' now? Jus' like that?" he asks, hurrying over to her side.

[polly_okeefe]

I nodded. I gulped. I nodded again. "I saw him vanish in front of me."