High Bridge

by Troy Aaron Ratliff

A short short story of childhood memory, fleeting relationships and how, sometimes, even the smallest, most incidental experiences in our youth can have the biggest effects on us when we don't even know it, lasting well into adulthood and helping us at the times when we need it the most. A lesson in cherishing the moments that we may think are meaningless but will have the biggest effects and weigh the heaviest in our hearts.

ebook

First published June 17, 2011

About the author

Troy Aaron Ratliff was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio and self educated in writing, art and voice impersonations. When he's not reading, writing, sketching, or cooking up his next monstrosity, you can generally find him defending the galaxy from the forces of evil, feeding hippopotamuses, dining with foreign dignitaries and Zen masters, waking up to his supermodel wife, altering the space-time inter-dimensional warp or, more than likely, stuck in traffic somewhere in Southern California on his magic carpet.

Reviews

[Robert Zimmermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever read, but it was far from being the worst…so don’t run away from it, please.

I thought there were some good parts to it, such as, the relationship between the characters. The relationship between the main character and the bridge was even worth mentioning. Though especially with the later of these two, I think they could have been altered slightly to feel stronger for me.

The main character, for me, wasn’t that easy to follow. There was a switch between his five year old point of view and the point of view of however old he is at the time he “writes down the story.” This wouldn’t be much of a problem though I think it was too jumbled and hard to decipher the differences between the two. I mention this because the mentality and memory capability of a five year old is drastically different than that of an adult. I would have liked to see clearer what was a recalling of the 5-year-old’s self and what was a reflection from the present on the past events.

I think overall I was left feeling like I needed something more. Maybe a little more depth to the whole thing. It may have been the right amount of depth for other readers, but I felt it lacked a little bit. There was more to be said; more to be seen. I wouldn’t mind reading an expanded version. As I said, this wasn’t a bad story; just not fully to my liking.

I still don’t see a reason not to check this one out.

[Tara Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this simply because Troy Aaron Ratliff manages to impart such a bold voice into the shortest of works. This is not your typical short story. This is a brief glimpse into a series of memories and emotions that become vivid to the reader. Well done.