smoke

figment - a roofs one-shot

first place winner :)

               “Don’t let me jump, no matter how badly I want to.”

               “It doesn’t matter if you jump, because you know that I’ll be there to                  catch you.”

It’s been a year since Brian has been on the roof. Never had he experienced such a desponding, demoralizing year.

But now he was back. As he climbed the stairs, he could’ve sworn there was a lingering smell of her old perfume. He sat right there, on the seventeenth flight of stairs, and it took him too long to continue up the stairs. But at least he did continue.

It seemed as though the more he climbed up, the stronger the scent got. His feet beat against the hard ground, each step whispering her name.

When he finally made it to the roof, motivated by the notion that she would be waiting for him, he was breathless, gasping for air. He tilted his head to the right, moving sideways to get a better view of the ledge. His heart was racing with anticipation, already visualizing the reunion.

But she wasn’t there.

He snorted. Of course she wasn’t there! She’s dead. He sighed, turning around to descend the stairs, which seemed to have suddenly extended, as if mocking him for even thinking for a minute that he would be reunited with her. Then he heard something.

It was the sound of a faint sob, wailing from behind him. At first, he’d dismissed it as the wind. Only it seemed to grow rowdier, until it was the only sound to be heard. He slowly turned around, taking two cautious steps to the side. And he saw her.

A young girl, standing right at the edge of the roof. Her brown hair concealed her face, her tiny frame threatening to fall straight into the abyss of blaring cars and pedestrians. His eyes went wide, then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Have I gone mad?

He must’ve been hallucinating. He turned around, only for the sobbing to turn into desperate whimpers. He balled his hands into fists in agitation, and after listening to her wails for another minute, sauntered over to where she stood.

“Hey,” he whispered, his voice raspy. His fingers reached out to touch the girl. She flinched.

“Leave me alone,” she breathed out, inching her feet closer to the edge.

He didn’t know how to respond, mainly because he wasn’t sure if the girl was real or just a figment of his messed up imagination. But he wasn’t about to take any chances.

“Don’t jump,” he cooed, pushing her back slightly. She didn’t fight back. Instead, she fell limply into his arms, bawling and sniveling into his shirt. He patted her gently on the back. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Thank you,” she managed to gasp out. He closed his eyes, resting his chin softly on top of her head.

When he opened his eyes, she was gone. Just like Sharon was. He was still unsure of her being. Nevertheless, he’d saved her.

And yet, there was no one to save him.

A/N

idk i just really wanted to write a one-shot. so yeah this is my entry for thriftshops's wonderful story Roofs. i love that story so much so yeah i hope you liked this.