Room 17 and the Mysteries of Jacob Rei Donner

The Test

Åsa woke up to her fur plastered to her sides and jumped up, shock spreading across her face. "I figured dew couldn't reach this high!" She exclaimed. Jacob was shaking droplets of moisture out of his hair.

"It rained over night, Åsa." She was about to argue when she realized puddles of standing water that had not been there the night before, and looked down over the egde to see the streets glistening with fresh rainwater.

"So it did." She shook her fur. "I suppose you couldn't have found a drier place." Jacob ignored her and went to climb down from the roof. "Wait a minute, Jacob." Åsa pleaded. "We dont need to move this very instant, do we?" Jacob didn't look at her.

"It'll be best if we do. The police will be everywhere..." Jacob's words trailed off and he paused for a thoughtful moment. "The police will be everywhere," he repeated.

"I heard you to first time, Jacob." He stepped away from the ladder with a curious look on his face. "What is it?" Åsa asked impatiently.

"The police-"

"Will be everywhere, I get it. Hurry to the point!" Jacob turned to Åsa, a huge grin spreading across his lips.

"We will have to go roof jumping." Åsa stared at him in disbelief.

"Roof jumping! Jacob, have you lost your head?"

"I'm sure it's still on my shoulders, ma'am." Jacob assured her. "As soon as we set foot in the ground they'll be after us. We will have to jump from roof to roof and-"

"What about the city?" Åsa interrupted.

"What city?"

"Mälmo. The bigger part of it. Right now we live in the outskirts." Jacob snorted.

"Åsa, there aren't any outskirts in Sweden. That stuff only exists in southern Europe. You know, farmland."

"Okay, but this still isn't the biggest part of the city. It's like Paris; that's what we are headed for."

"Our cities are nothing like Paris," Jacob argued.

"My point is, we are headed to the largest part of Mälmo. The rooftops are far too high to jump on" she explained. "I heard there are spikes shooting up from them, touching the sky!" Jacob thought for a breif moment.

"Once we reach that part of the city, we'll be safely out of range." He told her. "Look," he pointed across the cloudy horizon. "It's difficult to see right now because the clouds are so low, but the city's far over there." He explained. "We'll reach a safe distance before we even hit the big city." Åsa looked doubtful. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." She flicked her ear.

"Alright." Jacob's face brightened.

"I hope your legs are warmed up!"

"As warmed up as yours." Åsa muttered. Jacob stood hesitantly at the building's edge, muscles tense and jaw set. "You aren't just going to jump from there, are you?" Åsa asked, concerned.

"I'm just getting a feel for how wide the gap is, ma'am." Jacob looked back at his cat and smiled. "Don't worry."

"Mouse brain." She muttered as she watched Jacob scale out his jump. She then watched as he backed a few feet from the edge and took off for a running start. Åsa shut her eyes, waiting for that horrible crunch as Jacob's body hit the pavement below her. A few gut-wrenching moments passed, and the crunch never came. She slowly opened her eyes to see Jacob waving his arms at her, safely on the other side. Åsa let the breath out of her aching lungs, her whiskers trembling. She got to her paws and prepared for her turn. "I'll claw your ears off if my legs are too short for this jump!" She took off running, pushed her hind legs off the edge of the building and soared into the sky. The wind flattened her ears to her head and her tail streamed out behind her. She felt her jump rapidly coming to an end, and realized she was a few feet short of the opposing rooftop. Jacob, help me! Åsa squeezed her eyes shut and stretched her paws out in front of her face, willing herself to catch the edge of the rooftop. She felt herself slowing and slowing, and she knew she was still short of her landing. Jacob, you ignorant featherhead! Your brain is stuffed! Åsa then began to fall quickly toward the ground, and at that paralyzing moment, she had lost all faith in her best friend.

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Jacob dug his toes into the concrete ceiling, quickly stretching forward until his body was hanging halfway over the rooftop. He shot both of his hands out in front of him in a desperate attempt to catch Åsa. He felt nothing. Jacob scooted even farther over the edge, dropping his hands lower. This time, he caught a bundle of bony fur and held on tight, scrabbling up the side of the building with his toes merely keeping the both of them from falling. He dragged himself and Åsa onto the rooftop, heart racing and breath in short gasps. "I told you I would never let anything happen to you" Jacob breathed and flopped on his back. Åsa scraped her claws on the cement and flattened her ears, a growl rumbling at the back of her throat.

"Feather-head!" She yowled at Jacob. "That was the by far the worst decision you have made."

"Åsa I'm-"

"You could have gotten us killed! What if the gap was too wide? We would have been-"

"Ma'am, please." Jacob cooed softly. "That was an experiment."

"A what?"

"I knew the gap was small enough for both of us to jump across," he explained. "I was testing you to see if you would be able to handle this." Åsa stared at him. "My initial thought was that you'd opt out right at the last minute, but you proved me wrong." Åsa's ears flicked and Jacob went on. "You went ahead and jumped anyway, even though you knew your life would be at risk. I was testing you." Jacob stepped toward his cat, resting his hand on her tiny head. "You, my friend, passed the test."

"Passed the....wait a second, Jacob. What if I failed?" Åsa asked. Jacob smiled.

"Then we'd be walking."