Athena Shurtleff

English 1201-207

Professor Sandra Riley

24 April 2022

The Bridge Between the Cities

Once, there were two neighboring cities, each across from each other on the banks of a

mighty river. One was massive, bustling with a rich social life and full of tradition and high

society. The other was smaller but people from all sorts of backgrounds flocked to it, sharing

their varying cultures and creating together. The two cities had grown together but did not

understand each other’s customs or way of life. This lead to separation between the two, and few

people from one ever knew what the world was like on the other side.

One day, the leader of the smaller city decided it was time to build a bridge between the

two cities. So they approached the ruler of their much larger neighbor with an offer. If they

worked together, they could build a bridge that would last a hundred years and allow for their

cities to finally bridge the gap that had lasted between them so long. The ruler agreed this was

good, and they set about working on the bridge. They raised funds, gathered supplies, and hired

workers to build it.

All was well until the building began. The larger city spoke an old language, one that was

unknown to the smaller city’s people. This caused much miscommunication between the two

groups, and the bridge was left untouched as each group struggled to explain what they wanted

to say. The larger city became upset that the smaller city didn’t understand and refused to work
with them. The leader and the ruler came together and brought interpreters from each side, and

soon the parties could understand each other again.

They started work again on the bridge when another issue arose. The larger city’s

traditions had carefully laid out societal rules, and each person knew exactly how they should

act. But the smaller city had no such universal structure, with many different cultures leading to

many ways of seeing the world. The larger city’s workers became angry at the social cues the

smaller city’s workers simply didn’t understand, and refused to work with them. The ruler and

the leader once again stepped in, teaching about the traditions of both and leaving the workers to

their task.

The bridge was coming along well, and the groups were making quite a bit of progress

together. The smaller city’s workers were in good spirits. They soon began to sing a song that

helped them pass the time in a lighthearted way. But the larger city was used to working in

silence. They once again complained that the smaller city was distracting and refused to work

with them. The ruler and the leader once again stepped in.

But the ruler had grown tired of their complaints. They called the larger kingdom’s

workers and scolded them for being so cruel to their neighbors. They asked their people why

they had been so impatient with the smaller city’s people. They responded that they were tired of

dealing with the rudeness of the other group. They insisted that these were things everyone

simply knew, and that it was ridiculous that the smaller city refused to follow the rules.

The leader then spoke up, suggesting that perhaps the workers should come visit their

city so that they could understand their neighbors better. The leader agreed, and the disgruntled

workers piled into the smaller city. Paired with a worker from the smaller city, they toured
around, seeing the world from a view they had never experienced before. Each rule they had

taken for granted melted away before their eyes as they looked at the marvels of the smaller city.

The larger city’s workers, now humbled and with deeper understanding, apologized to their

neighbors and promised to consider their worldview from that moment forward.

Once this had happened, the workers all returned to the bridge. No more fighting took

place, with each side working together. Now that they worked together, a project that would have

taken months to complete was done in a matter of weeks. When the final stones were laid, the

gates to each city opened for all to cross freely. From that day forward, the two cities became so

intertwined they felt as though they were one and all could see the world from the other side.

My intended audience is made up of both neurotypical and neurodivergent people looking to

know more about communication between the two and how bridging the gap could improve the

lives of both parties. The larger city was neurotypical people who have never learned about

neurodivergents, who are the smaller city. I intended the bridge to represent communication, and

each issue they encounter to be a barrier in the way of effective communication. I chose to tell it

in the form of a story because I know fairy tales and fables are a common hyper fixation/special

interest of neurodivergent people, so I thought it fit nicely with my topic.