Falling Slowly

Pt.1|Ch.1

For some people, the night is cold and heartless. The time that the monsters come out is the time to fear.

Daylight, to them, is warm and welcoming. The monsters don't exist in the sun.

But night is the only time that I can think. The only time to exhale.

I waited until the apartment was completely still; until all I could hear was the soft, steady breathing of my mother in the other room.

I quietly slipped out of bed and slowly opened the door, stepping out into the hallway.

My feet made no sound on the wood floor as I carefully walked down the hall.

I passed the pictures hung on the wall. There were pictures of me and my mom: the only family pictures we had, and the only ones I'd ever seen. When I was six years old, Mama explained to me that they were also the only ones we'd ever get.

A couple photographs of me when I was around that age sat on the dresser in the living room. I walked by that dresser and crossed the room to the balcony. I unlatched the door and slid it open, stepping out in the cold, dark air.

I took a seat on the little wire chair and leaned back until the metal rim touched the wall. I swung my legs up and crossed my ankles on the iron railing that enclosed the small space. When I was comfortably situated, I looked up.

The black sky was dotted with one thousand tiny little lights. They sparkled in the dark, enrapturing me.
I always sat out there for a few minutes before retiring to bed, a little time just for me.

And I must say, the city is so much better from afar. I watched it as it sleeps down below me, and I basked in the moonlight that so gracefully kisses the pavement.