High & Low | Crystal Rain

Ep 26. | A Trip Down Memory Lane

Following P down more streets, they eventually came to a small clearing where a little more than a few make shift shack like structures had been erected surrounding a burned down wood building.

Some of the main structural points were still standing along with a few wood slabs of the roof, but were completely blackened and burned with parts that were flaking off in the small breeze.

They came up on an old rusted shack at the far end, "Do you remember this place?" She looked at P and then back at the shack. A piece of rusted metal sheetrock had fallen off its make shift hinges and she could just make out a few of the details inside. No memory or image came to her mind but she said the only word that entered her mind, in a voice lower than a whisper, "home?"

"I moved out of here a week after you disappeared and moved in with Takeshi. There was nothing left for me here except constant reminders of what had been and what I could have done. Smoky suggested I move in with them, so I did." His eyes went out of focus and to Crystal it seems like he was lost in his memories. He took a deep breath and signed before turning back to her, "Lets go."

She again found her self walking back through the main street and was met by a tall metal structural outline of a building which P began to effortless climb. He was a quarter up the metal beams when he realized Rain wasn't following him, "You comin'?" He looked back down at her vacant stare, did she also forget the climbing skills she possessed?

He watched as she slowly grabbed on to one of the metal beams and began to climb. Her pace getting faster as she went, getting more comfortable and confident as she climbed.

Crystal had watched P quickly scale the building and a rush came over her, how fun it looked. He had called down to her, calling her to action, and she immediately began to climb. Starting off slow getting a feel for the metal between her hands she soon found climbing this building was natural, like muscle memory.

Her feet and hands worked together as if they knew where to grab, where to step and when and where they needed to exert more energy to make it to the next stable footing. She quickly caught up to P and the two continued to the top.

"I think I must have done that climb before haven't I?" "All the time. When ever you were in a sour mood or wanted a quite place to eat something or be alone with your thoughts you'd go there." P leaned back over the edge and pointed to one of the lateral beams jutting out the side of the frame work.

"You'd sit right there when you were younger and when you were strong enough you'd come all the way up here and take in the view." She looked as he indicated towards the main street below, it was starting to get busier. 

There were still buildings much taller than the one they were standing a top off. She could still see many of the intertwining streets below including the place where P had said their old home was.

After jumping over a few other rooftops they came to a large gap between the edge of one roof and what looked like a small platform. It looked more like a large ledge to Crystal. It extended only a couple feet out half way up the tower which was twice the size of the buildings they had already been on.

"You don't expect me to jump that do you?" P gave her a sly little smile, "I do...and you've done it before." P backed up a few feet and with a barely a running start swiftly jumped the gap.

Crystal took a small peek over the edge, it was a long way down. She noticed a board another twenty feet or so below wedged between an even smaller ledge and the cement sides of the building she was standing on.

One strong gust looked like it might dislodge it to shatter on the hard earth below. Seeing the board she had visions of a young girl with quick light feet using the very same board as a bridge and like before knew this girl must have been her.