Persistence

Getting Better

Just a different type of short story I wrote. A friend of mine gave me the idea.

xFinitely (tagging cause you wanted me to post it)

"Tell me what's happening!" She screamed. "I don't understand and I need to."

"You do not NEED to, actually," I hissed at Rose in annoyance. She glared at me so I started running down the sidewalk. The sweat froze on my face as fast as it appeared. It was very cold outside. When I had checked my thermometer earlier in the day it read down in the negatives. Suddenly I stopped running. I felt Rose trip over my foot and fall to the ground with a crash.

"Owwww," she whined. "Leeora, what the fuck was that for?" There were tears in her eyes, but I knew my friend was stronger than that.

"Okay," I decide, "you can come with me on one condition and one condition only."

"Well? What is that condition?"

"When we get to our destination you have to be absolutely silent."

" I can do that," Rose said. Bullshit. I know for a fact that Rose couldn't be even remotely quiet for a second. Not if her life depended on it which, now that I think about it, it actually might.

"Okay, " I agree deciding to give her a chance. Then, I shimmy up the nearest street sign. When I get to the top I wipe the buildup of snow and grime off the sign. It reads "THISTLE STREET" which is perfect. I glide down the pole with great ease and start running again, this time, as fast and as quietly as my legs can possibly carry me.

"Hey! Wait up!" Rose shouts.

"Shhhh" I hiss at her. She glares at me, but I just turn back around and keep going. The street seems to go on for miles. The houses are broken and dirty, many of them barely have a roof. I stop for a second to read a house number on a mailbox. 1372. Awesome.

"Leeora." Rose sounds out of breath. "Where are we going? I don't think I can run for much longer." She doesn't look like she can either. She's crunched over on herself and her breathing is fast and hoarse.

"Sorry Rose. We've still got a long way to go before we get there."

"Where?"

"394 Thistle Street."

"No, Leeora. Where are we going? What are you doing?" She stops to think. "Though, ugh, that is really far away." Ignoring her first question, I have a sudden idea.

"Those don't happen to be your roller boots do they?" Rose gave me a sly smile before reaching down and pressing a button on the side of her boots. I watch in awe as the sole of her boots flip inside out to reveal a set of wheels. Other than being loud, Rose loves to invent new and crazy things. She motions for me to jump onto her so I do, wrapping my arms around her neck, hanging on for my life. Rose speeds down the street at at least four times our original speed. In almost no time we are in the nine hundreds...then the five hundreds... and finally we come to a screeching halt at the front of house 394.

If all the other houses we passed were in a poor condition, this one looked as though it were hit by a tornado. The paint was peeling off the walls. Every single window was broken. The plants all hung dead. The pavement was cracked and huge chunks were missing. The door hung open slightly. Rose started to walk slowly towards the door.

"NO," I screamed, then shushed myself. "Rose, come back," I whispered. She looked at me, shook her head no, and disappeared into the house. I followed quickly.

The entire inside of the house was almost as bad as the outside. It was a disastrous mess, almost as though someone had been there to search before me. Or, perhaps, many people.

After searching the house for almost an hour we find a locked room. Rose is about to give up, but I have the key. I take my necklace off my neck and turn it in the door.

"You should look over there," I tell Rose pointing to the far corner of the room. She asks me what she should be looking for, but I am too distracted to respond. the window in this room is perfectly in tact. I walk over to it slowly. As I get closer I see there is something engraved in it. I grab a piece of paper off the table and write on it quickly.

"Alright, let's go. I've got what I need." At that moment there is a cracking noise and a bright light flashes through the room. The house quickly catches on fire. I grab the boots off of Rose and run out the door. "I'm sorry I can't save you," I say. She starts to cry. I stand out in front of the house and watch it burn to a crisp.

"Welcome to the end of the world!" I shout. "It can only get better from here. One down, five to go."