Flashback Original Official

“The fall’s better, too.”

Leo’s smile flickered. “Yeah. Okay.” flashback original

He didn’t look back. But the flashback didn’t fade. It settled into his bones, warm as a hand on his shoulder, and walked with him into the rest of his life. “The fall’s better, too

“It’s a cage,” Leo had replied, not unkindly. He pointed downstream. “See that? The water doesn’t ask for permission. It just goes. Be the water, Alex.” But the flashback didn’t fade

“I’m not going to jump,” he said to the empty air.

Instead, he said: “Let’s get coffee.”

The afternoon had been golden and lazy, the kind that made you believe nothing bad had ever happened or ever would. Leo was perched on the bridge’s edge like a bird, all sharp elbows and restless energy, while Alex sat a cautious two feet behind him.