What Happened on the Forever Bridge

And how we became lost in Time

Recap: Our narrator is a young maiden, unable to say her own name and cursed to wander the fairy woods until the spell on her is broken. She is followed by a talking fox (also cursed), and they have entered the North country, hoping to find a way to break their spells. They have reached the Void, a giant chasm, and seek what lies beyond it.

After weeks of wandering along its edge, I thought we would never find a way to cross the Void.

Many times, Fox and I wondered if we ought to return to the woods and the waste. But we were compelled by the lure of the unreachable. What if what we wanted was just beyond us?

The Triplets had warned me that it was dangerous to go North.

But I was an exile, deprived of my family, cursed to roam the wilderness until my spell was broken. I was growing anxious.

And I thought I had nothing to lose.

Late one morning, a faint thread across the great chasm appeared out of the gloom.

“Fox!” I said. “It’s another bridge!” We already tried to cross a bridge owned by Trolls, to no avail.

As we approached, we saw a wizened gnome sitting vigil on a rock near the entrance of the bridge.

“Is there any toll to cross?” I asked.

“Yes, my lady,” replied the gnome in a low, slow voice. “It may cost you your life.”

Fox and I glanced at one another.

“What is this bridge?” he asked.

“It be the Forever Bridge,” said the gnome. “An enchanted threshold between these Wilder-Lands and the vast Beyond. It has an end; but if you enter, you will never see it.”

“Are you saying it looks like it goes on forever?” I asked.

“Aye, it does,” said the gnome with a grim nod. “The spell on the bridge will make it seem as if the planks stretch always out before you. Time works different; you will not know the sunset or sunrise, but come to believe that years have gone in minutes. The enchantment gets stronger if you slow down or sit; you may not remember where you’ve come from or where you’re going. So whatever you do, you must not stop. Many a fool have slowed down; their home is this bridge.”

“So how do you know when to get off?” Fox asked.

“There be only one way,” replied the gnome. “When you reach the land Beyond, you will hear the voice of Wisdom in your ears. When Wisdom calls out, you must obey and jump over the side, or else remain forever in the company of fools. You shan’t see the ground below you; in fact, ‘twill look like the embrace of death itself, as if you are throwing yourself into nothingness. But then the ground will rise to meet you, and you will find yourself on solid footing.”

“Well, this is a terrible idea, Agnes,” Fox said to me. Since he didn’t know my real name (a consequence of my curse), he was always calling me whatever name came to mind.

“It be the only way,” said the gnome.

“How long do we want to stay on this side?” I asked Fox, anxiety itching at me. “If we change our minds, surely we can just come back the way we came.”

I didn’t know yet that the Beyond has a particular gravity, that it pulls people toward it, especially those under spells. That could be the only reason why Fox agreed with me then.

“All right,” he said. “We’ll just listen for the voice. How hard can it be?”

We headed onto the Forever Bridge.

“Don’t stop,” warned the gnome.

It’s hard to describe what happened after that, but I will try.

Time did leave us. I don’t know if it was months, years, or a century that we spent walking forward on the enchanted path, tracing the planks that multiplied without reason into infinite space.

Occasionally we saw people sitting or lying down. They were folk from various countries, from young lads and maidens to the experienced and aged, of every dress and class.

Sometimes I tried to speak to them. “You must get up,” I would say. “You must keep going.”

But they only blinked their eyes at me; rarely did they respond. One woman dressed in purple reached out her hand to me, and I helped her up.

“Oh, I can think again,” she said in wonder. “It felt like my mind was full of stones; now they have dissolved into sand. How long I’ve been here, I know not. Thank you.”

She walked slowly behind us as we continued; I wanted to help more people. But I felt the enchantment deepening the longer I waited for them to rise.

Fox nudged me on. “If they do not reach out their hand, we must keep going.”

Was it several lifetimes? Or was it only half a day… or half an hour?

I’m not sure exactly when I began to despair. I hadn’t realized the effect that losing time would have on me. It felt impossible to go back, and excruciating to go forward. More and more, I wanted to stop, to sleep, to forget the endless planks that chafed my spirit to the point of madness.

Suddenly, a voice from Heaven broke the air.

Listen now, for I cry out,

Be hopeful and be wise,

Turn aside here, the end is near,

So escape from your demise!

“Fox, it’s the Wind Singer!” I cried. The familiar voice of truth revived my spirit.

But as soon as I looked over the side of the bridge — in to the bottomless abyss of the Void — my heart quaked within my chest.

My feet gave out; I collapsed where I stood. Immediately, I forgot the sound of the voice; it was as though my mind began filling with water that drowned out all my thoughts.

Fox’s cry cut through the weight of the spell.

“This is the moment, Beatrice! We heard Wisdom call out — now we have to jump!"

When I still hesitated, he grabbed hold of my dress with his teeth to pull me onto my feet. I scrambled to rise; suddenly my head became clear again.

“Jump, jump!” he yelled.

We threw ourselves over the side of the bridge into the open mouth of the Void.

We tumbled three feet and hit solid ground, finding ourselves in a forest.

Time came back like a flash of lightning. We both suddenly realized the depth of the danger we had just escaped.

“A terrible idea, Isabel,” Fox said, his ears drawn back.

“Hello!” said a merry voice nearby.

Little did we know what peril still awaited us, for that was when we met the Piper.