Under the Bridge (What Was Left of It)

They sat under a tree on the riverbank while sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer.

"We should probably not be here when the emergency services arrive," the boy who had gone back for the others said. He was wringing river water out of his sleeve, which suggested he had gone in at some point, though nobody had seen exactly when.

"Why not?" Priya asked.

He glanced at the girl in the yellow coat, who was still staring at her hands. "Because someone is going to start asking questions about how four kids all made it off a collapsing bridge."

"She held it up," the boy with the glasses said. He said it the way you state a fact, clearly and without drama, like he was reading from a report. "With her hands. She stopped a collapsing bridge."

"I heard you the first time," the girl said. She looked up. "I am Adaeze. And before you ask, this has never happened before. I did not know I could do that. I did not even decide to do it, I just grabbed it and it stopped."

"Okay," the boy with the glasses said. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Okay. So. Either you have always had the strength to stop a collapsing bridge and just never needed to before. Or something changed recently. Or this was a one-time thing that happened under extreme stress and will never happen again."

"Who are you?" Priya asked him.

"Felix," he said. "I categorise things when I am nervous. It helps me think."

"Does it actually help?" Adaeze asked.

"Usually," he said.

The boy who had gone back for everyone cleared his throat. They all looked at him. He had dark eyes and a still, watchful quality, like someone who was used to observing before acting. He was also completely dry, which was strange because Priya was almost certain she had seen him go into the water.

"My name is Ren," he said. "And I think we should move before the fire service gets here, because I have a feeling this conversation is going to take a while and it will be easier somewhere quieter."

"Why are you dry?" Priya asked.

Ren looked down at himself. "I am," he said, as if he had only just noticed. "That is interesting."

"Interesting?" Priya stared at him. "You went into the river. I saw you. You went in up to your waist and you are completely dry."

"I did go in," Ren agreed. He seemed to be processing this with the same calm he had shown on the bridge, which was either very impressive or slightly worrying, Priya had not decided which. "I did not get wet. I have noticed before that water does not seem to stick to me. I thought it was just luck."

"Just luck," Felix repeated. He pushed his glasses up again. "Right."

The sirens were very close now. Priya looked at the three of them, these complete strangers she had just almost died with.

"Fine," she said. "We move. But I want everyone to know that I am extremely normal and none of this is my situation."

"Can you run fast?" Felix asked her. "Because you moved really quickly on the bridge."

"I just run," Priya said.

"How fast?"

Priya opened her mouth. Then closed it. She thought about the time she had crossed the bridge in four seconds and that had felt completely normal to her but the bridge was forty metres long.

"We are moving," she said firmly, and started walking.