The girls drowned, could I have saved them?
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I have always wondered if I could have save two young girls who drowned in a creek where I had gone swimming many times. It was the early 70s and I was cruising through town one afternoon. A guy I knew waved me over on Main Street, in front of the Brookville Court House. Two young girls were standing with him beside his old truck. He and the girls wanted me to go swimming with them by the Blue Creek bridge.
The girls were pretty and I had seen them around town. I found out later that they were California runaways. The girls giggled and begged me to go....I don't know why but I told them no. They were dissapointed but still smiled and waved to me as I left.
Later that evening, my friend Sam Blair called me to tell me about the two girls who had drowned in Blue Creek. I was stunned. Just a few hours earlier, I had seen them alive. I read in the Brookville Democrat newspaper that the girls had gone into the water and panicked. The guy tried to pull them out and they almost drowned him. The Sheriff stated that the oldest girl was pregnant. I believe that the girl's ages were 15 and 13., I'm not sure?
In the little town of Brookville Indiana, the rumors about murder ran rampant in the busy body circles. The whispering pin heads were sure that the guy had killed the girls. He would not have invited me if he had it in mind to murder them. He was never charged with a crime and the whispers finally silenced. No one knows what happened that day except him.
I have often thought of the girls over the years. I once picked a hand full of wild flowers and tossed them over the bridge into the water for them. I've always wondered what would have happened if I had gone with them?
Long ago...I wrote a song for them. called ,"Bridge Over Tears"..you can listen to it at: www.myspace.com/bowlofweeds
An old iron bridge similar to this one.
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Thank you Candie....it's just one of those things I have carried for years. I'm sure they got my flowers, heard their song and smiled.
I'm a firm believer that things happen the way they do for a reason. You could have been there and they still drowned. Then how would you feel? I do understand wondering.
Just as a side note, the story and the bridge just sparked that little memory of the movie "Ode to Billy Joe".
Jeez Tom, that is horrible and something that would prey on a person's mind for years! The what if's, but you know, I am a believer in fate and you were not meant to be there on that day.
Thanks KCC.....yes...that's true....thanks. I saw that movie too.
cindy.....thanks........it must have been that way for some reason. These things do make us wonder though.
Tom you have to move on. Probably writing about this tragic event will finally enable you let go. I do hope so.
It was more than 30 years ago..... writing does help....Thanks GW.
PS just listened to your song, great voice, loved it!
Thanks GW....Kind of a haunting tune isn't it.
I'll try and listen next week, for some reason China today is blocking google and yahoo image searches, blogger - so I can't update my blog and myspace, so can't listen to your song. Youtube has been out for over a month now.
Thanks cindy...that's fine.....does China block sites a lot?
You're getting a lot of hugs here, well deserved..
Wow that's something. We all have "if onlys" in our lives. Yours is a tough one and I'm sorry that you have burdened with it. Clearly you did the right thing by refusing.
Thanks Candie...hugs are the best! :)
Thanks Pete....it was the right thing....maybe the only thing.
You never know what would happen if! It's the butterfly effect, what would have happened if?
Thanks Hawkesdream....the biggest word in the universe...if. :)
Wow, this is a heart breaking story. The song is nice though...sometimes fate is just quirky; you had no reason to believe that it would be these girls' last swim. Its not your fault at all.
lxxy
Thanks for saying that Ixxy....I'm pretty much at peace with it now...writing the song helped.
Wow dad, I think you could have saved them. Tho it does make me wonder why you did say no. But I have faith that you could have.
Deece...I wonder too...it's a pebble in the creek thing...that's where it landed.
Your story reminds me of the mystery of the "Ode to Billy Joe."
Thanks Ralph....I love that old song...remember the movie...Robbie Benson starred in it. :)
This is a sad story for the girls because of what happened. But thinking about the what if's? will eat you up forever. I should know, I knew my Grandad was dead before anyone told me. I was just 16, it'll be 12 years this year, and it has taken me a long time to move on from wondering what if I'd done something or woken someone. But I've got to the point in my head where you just have to say, what happened has happened. You can't go back and change things so you shouldn't dwell on it. I will always wonder though, like why he chose to tell me he'd gone? I'll never know that answer, but it's always going to be in the back of my mind. It just means you care.
Thanks Georgie..."It's always going to be in the back of my mind. It just means you care." So true.
If they were friends of yours and it was the same outcome you'ld feel worse, trust me. So, the fact you've let it eat away for all these years proves you have a loving heart. You're beating yourself up for something you can't change. You just have to let them go. xx
Candie V Level 4 Commenter 3 years ago
The flip side, and you've probably thought about it, that being the kind of man you are, may have tried to save them and they could have pulled you under with them. I'm glad you're here with us, now. It would be a lesser place without "my" Tom..."our" Tom. I get your feelings, and they are valid. Be at peace.