Friend

 Beneath the overpass is where I found him. The water from the river had risen nearly to where he lay due to the unrelenting rain. The local news reports say there is no end in sight and it's already been a week. Flooding on the lower ends has taken lives already and no end in sight just means horror to come. The old man lay there as though nothing was happening, sound asleep. I tapped his shoulder but he didn't move so I nudged him harder with both hands. He rolled over to face me, his hollow eyes stared at me as though I was the intruder and not the rain. I guess in a sense he was right, but at this point, he needed to be awake if he was to live. 

"Come with me," I said, reaching out my hand.

"Who the hell are you?" the old man grumbled angrily.

"I'm from Spencer, the town across the bridge, my name is..."

"I don't care, just go on and leave me alone," the man grumbled.

"The river is rising fast," I said pointing at the water just a few feet behind me, "if you don't get up and come with me, it'll take you."

"I don't care, boy, where the hell am I gonna go to?" he rolled back over and closed his eyes, "beat it, kid, got no time for you."

"There's a shelter not far..."

"Ain't stayin' in no damn crowded box."

I couldn't think of anything else to say or anywhere else for him to go, so I did what my mother always warned me about. "You can stay with me, just get up."

"Ain't going nowhere, just let me alone."

The rain became harder and heavier, and the water had risen to less than two feet from us. His stubbornness was going to get us both killed. I sat down beside him and looked at him in silence. He rolled over and glared at me. I just sat there, staring at the water and ignoring his hard stare. He looked over at the water and back at me several times in a row. I sat there, the water now only a foot or so away. He looked at me then snarled and grumbled.

"You better git boy, the river gonna take us both."

"Yep," I said as though I didn't care.

"Well, go on and git."

"I will...if you come with me."

"Just let me die boy, I don't want your death on my hands," the old pleaded.

The water now just inches away.

"Go on boy, don't be so damn foolish."

"I could say the same about you," I said, eyes still glued to the rising water.

The old man sat up beside me and stared at the water. He was just as stubborn as I was. We watched the water together, now touching the tips of my shoes and his bare feet, it was cold. We didn't say anything for a moment, just listened to the angry water flowing past.

"Why do you want to die, boy?"

"Why do you?" I responded.

"I've got nothing, no home, no family...nothing."

"Me either," I said, "and I might as well die with someone rather than die without ever having a friend."

We sat there, the water covering our feet and ankles, cold and frigid. We both stared at the river, raging and dark. Its power started to crack the pillars that held the bridge. Neither of us knew what had happened, but the Spencer dam just a few miles up had succumbed to the heavy rain, and within seconds that water would reach us. The roar of it could be heard, but it was too late then we both knew. We stared at the river, both knowing what was about to happen, and neither said a word.

The old man looked at me and patted me on the shoulder and smiled. Like a tidal wave, the water began crushing the bridge and taking it apart. I smiled back as he said his final words "Friend."

I smiled, "Friend."