Omasis

Bad Idea!

I scramble to my feet and retreat from the edge until my back feels the cold concrete wall. The train passes, and I hear myself exhale from a breath I didn't know I was holding as I sink to the ground. I had to sit and wait a moment to collect myself before I could finally get up and keep moving. The air felt damper the deeper I went into the platform, it extended further back way into the darkness. I walk for a bit when suddenly a red metal door came into view of my light. A big red door with yellow caution tape draped loosely over it in an attempt to keep people out. I approach the door, shifting my phone and holding it under my arm as I use my hands to tear away the tape with little to no effort. Despite what the tape might have suggested, there was no lock put on the door as I expected. I grasped the door handle and slowly turned it, the rust in the hinges creaking as I pushed the door open and slipped through the small space.

Behind the door was another smaller room with concrete walls, except one wall- the one in front of me -was replaced with a chain fence and behind it was a staircase that went up, sunlight trickled down from the top of the stairs. There was no wire at the top of the fence, so I decided to climb it. I shut off the flashlight and shoved my phone back into my pocket. I locked my fingers onto the gaps in the chainlink fence, I shoved the tip of my shoe into a space and I tried to hoist myself up. I slowly scaled the fence, one foot after the other, hands clasped onto the cold metal fence. The fence was rusted slightly.

I finally push myself onto the top of the fence, resting one leg on the other side for balance. I go to lift my other leg up so I can jump down, but when I go to pull it doesn't budge. Panic sets into my body and I go a little wobbly as I try to pull my jeans free from the jagged top of the fence. My hands immediately go clammy and my free leg feels like it'll slip any minute. Every time I go to tug I pull a little bit harder until I'm tugging so hard I almost thought my jeans would rip. In the middle of another tug, I feel something from my hoodie pocket slip, there was only a glimpse of my phone falling and my hands going to catch it before it and I both fell to the ground. I shut my eyes, feeling myself fall hands first into the concrete floor. I pause for a moment, waiting for something to hurt or burn or sting somewhat. I crack an eye open and look down at my hands, widespread and pink on the knuckles and when turned I can see blood and more scratches added to the scrapes from the train platform. I wipe them on my jeans, one leg ripped from the fence. A shame. My palms stung every time they brushed against my jeans, I hissed quietly to myself as I brushed the dirt off, and the bleeding didn't stop even after I got up and continued up the staircase.

More graffiti filled the walls, no names or anything in particular, just art frozen in their respective time watching the world change without them. I trace my fingers along while I walked, trying not to hit my cuts. Dirt and things were left behind when I pulled my hand away, the colours underneath the path of my fingers already looked a little brighter. Somebody really needs to clean this, it feels like an insult to the people who put it here. Finally, I was at the last few steps, at the very top there was no door but just a big opening to the surface. I stand in the doorway, looking out at the rooftop of the building I've ended up at, I turn to look back down at the darkness. It's inviting to go back to, but I only glimpse at it before walking out into the sunlight.

I hold a hand up to my eyes, it was bright and blinding compared to the darkness of the underground subway. I walk around the roof a bit, peering down at the city below, or at least the nearby sidewalks since it wasn't that high up. Maybe I could try getting higher. There was a taller building adjacent to the roof, it was only a few feet or so away, the gap was minuscule, easy to jump. At least I thought. I backed up and took a running start, I hop the gap with my arms in front of me ready to grab onto the building on the other side. I had my scrapped hands locked onto the edge of the roof of the other building (ouch) and one leg under me hooked into the texture of the wall, the other dangling a little below. I go to pull myself up when suddenly my leg slips, and anxiety climbs up from my feet. I had my arms thrown over the edge and I was able to pull myself up before I fell. I finally pull my legs up, I wait for the weakness in my legs to dissipate. Whenever I get startled suddenly, a scare in a matter of seconds, my legs go weak and that weakness goes through my body, and then I have to sit and wait. After a moment feeling went away so I got up and kept going. The new roof was smaller, but only by a bit, it was more rectangular, and filled with things that gave me such an urge to parkour off them that I had to physically move my head away from their direction to stop me.

For the next few minutes, I just jumped from roof to roof until I was so high that I could see off into the neighborhoods outside of the city. I don't know why I'm doing this, I could fall, but for some reason, that doesn't scare me as much. Finally, I reached the last nearby building, a hotel, The Grandiose Flower Hotel. I had stayed there plenty of times, when mom and dad fought, or when I knew they were just going to ask me to leave anyways. Malory runs it, she's nice, inherited the entire building when her dad died. She taught me how to braid my hair. I like Malory.

I think about visiting her, but before I can actually decide, I'm already climbing down using the balcony from each room. I climb down until I'm sitting on the last balcony above the front door, head between the bars and peering over, and looking through the store window. Malory was at the register behind the painted counter she let me design, sage green with painted flowers in just about every colour I could get my hands on. I remember that day, I spilled paint all over my jeans and ended up scratching a flower, which she fixed by covering it up with a few boxes behind the counter. I signed my name and hid it under the counter. I did that when I was twelve, now the paint was faded and she was standing behind it on her phone.

When I met her for the first time she had her hair short and in small braids and shaved on one side. Now it was grown out and dripping over her shoulder like a red curtain, she still had braids though. I want to climb down, I want to go in there and say hi and talk to her, I want to tell her how much I just want to live with her, I want to cry and have her hug me like she always does, a tight hug that takes away your breath but it's so nice you can't even notice. I lift my head up when my head got foggy, I spin around and I see potted flowers on the windowsill of the hotel room, I complained to Malory that there wasn't enough colour and the next day she had plants by every window, I could name all of them since she picked the ones I always liked. My eyes immediately snapped to a group of purple Gladiolus, Malory always liked them. I prefer Carnations. I hastily got up and picked a single flower, I turn back to the balcony. I hold the flower in my hand over the balcony for a moment, a single petal falls before I drop it down.

I climb back up the balcony. I hope she knows it's me, maybe I can face her another time.

(A/N This chapter actually physically hurt me to make, it's so bland and writing can be so difficult :[[[[[ But I hope you guys like it :D)

-L.J Aswell <3