The Shadow on the Bridge

Address: Avda. Atlántico, 19 30730 San Javier – Murcia – Spain E-mail: [email protected]

TITLE: “The Shadow on the Bridge” AUTHOR: Pedro Vidal Conesa CHAPTER 1: “The Birth of the Shadow”

Cell phone: 658 105 540

TITLE: “The Shadow on the Bridge” GENRE: Comic AUTHOR: Pedro Vidal Conesa

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Cell phone: 658 105 540

SYNOPSIS My name is Francisco Armero. I had a good life, a perfect wife, a beautiful daughter … till, one day, destiny gave me something I never chose, a car accident that changed my life forever. Now, I don’t even have a name. I’ve become a legend, something unreal. People speak of me as if I were a shadow, the Shadow on the Bridge and that is what I have become: the reflection of the deepest darkness of my soul. When you see the enormous injustices all around, doesn’t it make you wonder if we live in a perfect world, or in some sort of hell? We see death as the ultimate trap, when it’s actually just the opposite, in many cases it’s a release. Over time, our good deeds will cleanse our soul. Mine’s been clean for a long time now, yet here I am, although I don’t know why. People come looking for “The Shadow” without hate or resentment, not even in search of revenge, they are just trying to find in me what they were denied in life: JUSTICE. This is my story. Frank (“The Shadow on the Bridge”) is a police officer and a specialist in multiple martial arts who has trained for years with his brother-in-law, Román, a noble giant, 2 metres tall and 150 kilos. Around his neck, Frank has always worn the cross he was given by his grandmother just before she died, when he was only a child. Sandra, Frank’s wife, and María, his beautiful daughter, are heading off to spend the weekend with Frank’s parents. In good spirits, the three of them get into the vehicle as Roman says goodbye, wishing them a safe journey. At that exact moment, I set off on a trip to nowhere.

- - - A group of kids can be seen on a bridge, above a motorway; one of them says: “Hey, let’s piss on the cars passing underneath.” While some of them are doing so, one of the kids, as if possessed, throws a big rock over the parapet. There is a crunching noise and a loud crash. The gang runs away terrified. “Are you crazy or what? Look what you’ve done!”

- - - Next day, Frank visits one of those clubs that stay open round the clock at weekends, flashing his police badge at the doorman.

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Cell phone: 658 105 540

He stares at a group of kids (the gang from the bridge), specifically at one of them before approaching. Frank asks his name and the boy says: “The name’s Juan. Why you asking, mate? Frank goes crazy; he grabs him by the neck and hisses: “I’m no one’s mate, in any case a friend to some, but you’re not one of them. So tell me, why am I looking for you? I’m guessing it’s not for anything good.” The boy’s friends move to attack and Frank cuts them off, saying: “Make my day!” As he leaves, pointing at Juan, Frank warns: “I’m watching you”.

- - - Sunday morning: “Hey, Juan! Take a look at this! He reads: “Police officer and wife die in car accident Friday night after rock is thrown from a bridge”; the newspaper article includes a photograph … “Look at the photo, it’s that guy from the club last night”, says his pal. The boy raises his eyes from the newspaper and there in the distance the image of Frank stares back at him. Fleeing in blind terror, Juan runs straight in front of a car that knocks him violently to the ground, motionless.

- - - Later, Frank is walking alone and confused across the bridge when, all of a sudden, a strong pain wrenches his body and he falls on his knees. Out of his body emerges the image of his wife, Sandra. In puzzlement, he asks: “What’s going on? What are you doing here?” Sandra says: “Remember, darling, you were the first: that rock destroyed you, but your body prevented it from hitting our daughter. It killed you instantly and then me as I lost control of the car and it crashed into the side of the road. At the moment of our death, my spirit entered your body so that, with your strength, you could get our daughter safely out of the car and hang your cross on her neck.” An ambulance pulls up and one of the crew wonders: “How could this little girl have got here? She’s just sleeping on the ground with a cross around her neck.” Frank pulls his shirt down and in the middle of his chest he sees, in astonishment, how the shape of the cross is burnt into his skin. Sandra says: “Darling, I have to leave you now, we have to go different ways, I love you. You must follow your own path, and you will gradually discover what you have become. Take care of our little girl, I must leave you”.

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Address: Avda. Atlántico, 19 30730 San Javier – Murcia – Spain E-mail: [email protected] Cell phone: 658 105 540

On his knees, his fists on the ground, Frank, still confused, tells Sandra: “I love you and will never forget you” as he stands up. It’s a dark night, vehicles keep driving past, one after the another. All of a sudden, one casts the shadow of his impressive figure on the road. Frank looks at his shadow and says: “Good, I think I have work to do”. Remember: “People come to me without hate or resentment, not even in search of revenge, they are only trying to find in me what they were denied: JUSTICE” My spirit wanders on the road. When another spirit comes to me, my being becomes matter, and I resurrect. When it abandons me, something of that being remains inside me, and makes me stronger every time. Somewhere else, a newspaper held in trembling hands says: “The man responsible for the accident resulting in the death of police officer Frank Armero and his wife Sandra has turned up dead. His pals, arrested as accomplices in the death and for abandoning the scene of the incident, say the ghost of the dead officer had been haunting their friend. Probably delusions due to drug abuse.” Two hands crumple the newspaper and a huge figure says: “They got off light” The hulking figure of Román is seen walking away… End of Chapter 1: “The Birth of the Shadow”

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The Shadow on the Bridge