A Rooftop Encounter (Short Story)

chapter one.

Sometimes it is simply time to escape. Escape from the world, escape from reality, even escape from yourself. Whenever life seems too difficult, all that you have to do is just find a nice, quiet place of your own and lay there. Not doing anything in particular, but merely being there. Alive.

Listening to your own soft breaths or watching your chest vibrate from your rhythmic heartbeat. Something so simplistic, but it really works. It's therapeutic and enlightening on a way. Because in that moment of pure silence, you are absolutely nobody but yourself.

There is no one to stop you from thinking whatever you want to and you don't have to stop your mind from wandering. The only limit is your own imagination. I like days like those a lot. It seemed that I kept having more and more of them.

Stress and anxiety kept building up, creating solid walls around me but this time, that I have completely to myself, allowed me to break them down.

On this particular evening, I found myself strewed across the rooftop of a large, industrial shopping centre. It was strange because I wasn't exactly sure how I had ended up there.

One moment I had felt as though an invisible darkness was dragging me further downwards and the next, I was breathing in the warm, autumn breeze on a wide, open space. I wasn't going to question it. I was just glad that I found myself at ease for once.

I settled my back on the cold, concrete with my hands clasped tightly behind my head and inhaled. The fresh evening air surged through my lungs like a powerful rush of energy. It was absolutely bliss.

In the distance I could hear the sounds of car horns beeping at each other from the busy street below and the soft wind whistling around my ears. However everything else was dead quiet and so was I.

I was sort of lost in my thoughts of many things. Things I didn't really understand, but thought about anyway. I know that sounds like total nonsense, but there are a lot of things I don't understand, but if I don't think about them then I never will understand them. Do you see want I mean?

I combed my fingers through my ruffled, dark hair and gently shut my eyes. It was as if the world drifted away from me and everything that I didn't understand did also. Nothing felt more peaceful than being up here on this rooftop. There was no one to stop me or hold me back.

It was in that moment that I realised I was sadly mistaken.

I suddenly heard a small crowd of rowdy people interrupting my peace as they spilled carelessly onto the roof, through the same way in which I had gotten up here. I listened intently to their hushed laughter a short distance behind me. I knew the quiet would never have lasted for long.

Slowly I sat up and glanced around in order to spot who they were. Upon inspection, I noticed several workers, still dressed in their royal blue and orange work uniforms.

There were five of them, from what I could make out, each holding a cigarette with smoke billowing from the end. I shook my head.

Smoking wasn't a very good habit, no matter what people say to try and justify it. How can people possibly justify destroying their bodies from the inside out? It was one of the many things I truly didn't understand.

Not wanting to be seen, I carefully moved into a crouching position and hid myself behind one of the concrete posts positioned on the roof.

I squinted my eyes in attempt to make out the group of smoking workers in more detail. From what I could tell, there were four burly guys, each of them varying in height and size. Whilst in the middle, was a much younger looking girl with short, black hair. She was slender in size and I could just make out many dark tattoos swirling down her left arm.