WHITE NIGHTS.

(highly recommend to watch the 1997 movie or read the book to grasp the moment more!)

FIRST NIGHT — made shorter. It was a wonderful night — the kind only youth can truly feel. The sky glittered with stars so brightly, one might wonder how bitter or capricious souls could dwell under such beauty. A naïve thought, perhaps, but may it visit your heart often. All day, I had felt oddly sorrowful — lonely, as though everyone were abandoning me. Of course, "everyone" was no one in particular. I’d lived in Petersburg for eight years with scarcely an acquaintance. But I felt I knew the city itself — its people, its faces. When summer came and they all vanished to the villas, I felt deserted. For three days I wandered, lost in gloom. Whether on the Nevsky or by the embankment, not a single familiar face remained. They didn’t know me, but I knew them — studied them. One old man, whom I saw daily on the Fontanka, I almost considered a friend. So grave. __ I eventually ended up on the bridge, and much to my shock, there was a woman. Girl perhaps? She was crying, trembling as she cried into her hands. Another man stood off to the side, watching her — I didn't have a good feeling about it and walked closer; Only for her to squirm, and try to back away. Her eyes wide, as if she tried to run away.

“Don't be afraid, I will not harm you!”

I called out to her.