A man stands on a railway bridge. Orders pass along the line; the river says nothing. A watch ticks, a breath stalls, and time begins to misbehave. Memory intrudes, desire bargains, and the world narrows to rope, water, distance. No fanfare; only procedure—and a mind trying to outrun it. Follow the story to its far edge.

First published in 1890; collected in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891).

Text: “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842–c. 1914), American author, journalist, and Civil War veteran.

Best known for unsentimental war tales and the sardonic Devil’s Dictionary.