the BRIDGE by chenguang from usa

Aug 31th 2013, it had been 3 years since the government of Paradise Island announced the urban development planning but still lacked funding for the keystone project -- the bridge that connect Paradise Island with nearby metropolis Las Angeles. Even though the economy was booming, not any real estate developers were willing to spare money from their profitable investment in the property market into this public welfare project.

At the same time, the limited space of cemetery in Las Angeles had become a real pain-in-the-ass. The biggest funeral company just bought a land for cemetery with considerable cost, since a bunch of real estate developers were bidding against them. The only consequence was the increase of service fee for burial which has reach 20000$/each in average. Lots of families had to bury their beloved dead in cemeteries far away from the city, or turn to cremation or sea burial.

Then a bold proposal aligned the government of Paradise Island and the funeral company together. They redesigned the bridge into a multi-functional structure as a center of local funeral service, containing 1440 graves, 1440 family pillars for storing urns and 2 service centers, each has 3 crematory incinerators, 1 outdoor church, 1 dock for sea burial and office space. The news definitely shocked the public but the response seemed good as people described it as "the bridge to paradise". The overhead cemetery did look like paradise when you can overlook the city you live from above, bathing in the warm embrace of fresh air and setting sun.

After the proposal was announced, some real estate developers challenged it by proposing a bigger and much more profitable housing & business project. But gathering so many people to live and work in the bridge will inevitably cause traffic problem to itself, along with other unpredictable problems. One year later, construction of the Bridge started, co-funded by several funeral companies and the government of Paradise Island. Now 10 years has passed since the Bridge was completed, the funeral companies all profit from their investment and the economy of Paradise Island benefits the most from the bridge. After the success of this bridge, other cities all around the world started to design their own "paradise bridges". As the cemetery capacity of the Bridge is reaching its limit, people starts to transform one of its service centers into a museum in memory of their ancestors and this very bridge itself, the first of its kind which starts a new page of funeral industry.