Too Close to the Edge {short story}

Penelope had been looking forward to going with her husband, sister and brother-in-law on a road trip to visit the Grand Canyon. As an artist who was going through a temporary artistic dry spell, Penelope hoped that seeing the majestic Grand Canyon would enlighten her spirit and give her possible ideas for future paintings. Penelope was willing to try to overcome her terrifying fear of heights to go on this trip with her family. And Penelope was certainly looking forward to the vacation until she got there and couldn't bear to get too close to the edge.

She watched in terror as various sightseers balanced on one foot, acting foolish, taking photos - completely oblivious to the certain death waiting below them at their feet. Their show more careless antics made her dizzy, took her breath away. Scared her. Especially when the woman beside her relates the tragic story of a small child who fell to her death into the Canyon the day before.

Many people died that way - falling over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Many people also died down inside the Canyon - hikers and other people who are disoriented by the triple digit temperature, people who drowned in the river going through the rapids. Then Penelope witnesses a young girl fall over the edge of the Grand Canyon and no one believes her frantic account. For there was no child who had died - that day anyway. Was she seeing things that weren't there...or was there another explanation?

I really enjoyed this short story. The characters were well-crafted, and I felt that the story's ending wrapped up any loose ends very nicely, in my opinion. I give this story an A+! show less