The Bridge over the River Minnesota

Prompt - The Bridge (2–30 minutes): Two people are walking together across a bridge. Have one of them recount a story to the other, starting at the foot of the bridge and ending as they step off the bridge. Imagine the length of the bridge and how long it might take to walk across. Write your story in the time it would take to cross the bridge. A small footbridge – over in a couple of minutes. The Golden Gate bridge – 30 minutes. It may be wise to avoid the 100-mile Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, but the choice is yours!

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   Kivi and I parked next to the Minnesota River in the little state park outside Jordan.  The river was swollen from the spring thaw but hadn’t yet washed out the bridge.  Instead of taking the trail, though, I led her back up to the Jonathan Carver Parkway and started walking across the bridge. 

    “Mom, where are we going?”

    “I thought you’d like to see the giant whirlpools.”

    “I’ve seen them.”

    “Yeah, but it’s been a long time since you saw them up close,” I responded.

    “Ok…” Her voice made it clear she thought I was being a little silly but that she was planning to humor me.

    “So, the first time I saw them was back when I was teaching at Chaska, and I was driving this way every day. I told you and your dad about them, and then when we had a chance, I made us stop and take a look.  They were enormous - maybe 4’ across, and I’d never seen anything like them.”

    “I remember.”

    “You were eight or so and not terribly foolhardy, but I tried to make it clear to you that if you fell in, it probably meant you’d die. You’d get sucked in, and if you were lucky, you’d go shooting through the culvert, but more likely, you’d be pinned across it, and we wouldn’t be able to get you out.”

    “Mom, I’ve told you for years that I didn’t have any intention of going in.”  

    I shrugged, “I know. But you were edging really close. And you may not have planned to go in, but you might have fallen in accidentally. Remember how I used to take an extra change of clothes for you whenever we went up to Lake Superior?”

    Kivi laughed. “Yeah, and I usually did get wet.”

    “So, I insisted on holding your hand despite your objections.”

    “That made me kind of mad, I won’t lie. I thought you didn’t trust me.”

    I shrugged a second time, “I know - and you were right. I didn’t.  But I was less interested in soothing your feelings than in making absolutely sure you didn’t fall in.”

    We stepped off the far side of the bridge and continued alongside JC Parkway on our way to see the giant whirlpools again.

--April 26, 2020

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Note: This is a blend of fiction and non-fiction.  The scene set in the present and the conversation between myself and my daughter are made up, but in the imagined conversation, I described a real event (taking her 8-year-old self to see the whirlpools).