The Upside

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆

Imagine a misty, gloomy and intoxicating city. A run-down civilisation, light streams coming out of the rusty pipes, nailed into the walls, shooting up into the sky. The atmosphere is drenched low feeling. The walls are tight, streets narrow. This mysterious and unreachable place is known as the trenches of 'The Underground'. The trenches are located underneath the world, hidden away from society. The purpose of these trenches is to maintain the lifestyle and the world for the people above. Individuals work harshly, maintaining all the machines whilst in slum-like conditions of a post-apocalyptic world. If you are born in The Underground, you will never get to leave. It is a hard trap, stuck down in doomsday for life. Just beyond the trenches, boiler rooms and great machines are those narrow streets. If someone's eyes took a moment to glance up, you would find that the walls go on forever. That is the hope of the undergrounders, to reach 'The Upside.' No one has ventured to seek the guidance and freedom of The Upside, not until Amara Jacobs. There was a longing curiosity inside of the girl, aggravated and hungry to be let released.

Her hands pulled down harshly on a metal pipe, feeling some rust exchange on her dirty, frail hands. The machine she was working on made a harsh clunk, jittering around and coughing up some smoke which had flowed to her face. Amara had been working aimlessly, repeating the same exact task that she must do each day. It was exhausting, tiring but she knew that there was not a second for her to stop. Droplets of sweat piled down from her face, the rust and soot transitioning to her forehead with a single wipe. This gruelling work had been going on for hours, up since the early morning of the dawn. However, it was hard to tell what time it was due to it always being misty and dark, down in the deep parts of The Underground. Shoulder length locks, raven coloured was tied up, hands fidgeting to form a messy ponytail. Amara's dusty face had turned around, raising up some eyebrows to see a tall boy approach her.

"I hear you're wanting to climb." He says, a light raspy voice echoed down through the depths.

Amara's charcoal eyebrows furrowed, her face giving off a sense of confusion. She had not told anyone that she wanted to go climb up to The Upside, for that was a forbidden act. If you were caught, there would be severe consequences. Most people do not even try anyway, it is a lingering journey that would require immense stamina, patience and overall hope. If that rope breaks, you would continuously fall into the depths, never to be seen again and most likely will end up back in the laundry pile of The Underground.

"Uh. Who told you about that?" Her tone was muffled, a light whisper.

"I've been seeing you stare up at the walls, Jacobs."

"Have you been stalking me?" The beating of her heart got more intense, slowly starting to escalate as the boy had more information on her.

"No, no." The boy moves closer, in more of a comforting and comfortable way.

"I've just been thinking about it too. My name's Cameron, Cameron Evans." His hand extends, the other one brushing through those brown locks, lightly curling at the tips.

She had to look up at the boy, dressed like her. Both clothes were covered in dust and soot, the smell of charcoal was pungent, wafting into their noses. Many different holes in their clothes, varying sizes of small to large. There was one thing that set him off, dazzling eyes that shone like emeralds. She hesitantly extended her own arm, shaking his lightly before pulling away, wiping her palm on the dirty material of her pants.

"Cameron, that name rings a bell.." Amara ponders, zoning out to try and think of how she knew him and why he knew her surname.

Cameron was quick to fill her in on the details, making his presence more recognisable to her.

"I'm a head stock boy." He chuckles, lingering on the rest of his laugh.

Her voice let out a gasp, realising how she knew him. Her body shrivelled up in a sense of embarrassment, pink rouge flushing onto her cheeks. Amara felt like she could trust Cameron, his personality just had a sense of hope and determination. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. The machines in the background had her ears ringing, stepping back from the humid fires that were roaring and dancing quickly.

"Ah, I see. Well..." She steps closer, boots clacking against the concrete ground. Her lips make near contact with his ear, whispering subtly. "You want to climb to The Upside with me?" She smirked, awaiting his response.

Cameron's lips had formed a subtle smirk, extending his hand once again and gesturing for Amara to grab it. Without hesitation and thinking, Amara was quick to grasp his hand, intertwining their fingers as he led her from the machinery. They walked through the small hallways, seeing people work all around them. He led Amara towards the stock building, where the ropes were kept. Using his ID, Cameron got the two in without security authorising them and headed towards the aisles.

"We need to find long ropes and grappling hooks, let's pray there's some in here." Cameron started to look around, fingers frolacing in the mass amount of boxes.

Amara followed, eyes glancing around to try and find what they needed as quickly as they could. The search was a painstaking task, the pair was running out of time before someone could walk in and catch what they were doing. Amara's throat exhaled, coughing up some smoke that had seeped into the walls from the outside of the building. Huddling in her arms were mountains of rope, coiling around her arms and wrapping around her build of a body.The pair managed to get everything they needed, quickly darting towards the narrow streets. The pair looked at eachother, eyes locking whilst standing closely in the narrow streets. In unison, they both nodded and swung the ropes high up into the air, watching them grip above. Amara's hands gripped on the rope, feeling the material seep into the palms of her hands. She took a small breath, eyes gazing upon the ever going trail above. Both of them started climbing, hoisting their bodies upward towards their destination, The Upside.

Many hours have gone by, the ground has not been visible for quite some time. Amara and Cameron were still going along strong, gripping tightly as they continued to climb. There were no ledges to take breaks, no one there to catch them if they fell. It was just them and their thoughts, nothing too crazy but then The Upside calls. The material on Cameron's rope started to unwind, slowly starting to break. His eyes widened, looking over to Amara.

"Quick, grab my hand!" She spoke, extending one arm out towards Cameron. He hesitantly gripped onto her hand, swinging over to her rope. The other rope kept unwinding, coiling up and free falling towards the ground.

The rope couldn't hold the both of them for much longer, they continued to climb at a quicker pace with only one rope to help them. Gusts of misty wind came up and breezed onto their faces, making the rope sway slightly. That wasn't a problem for the too, getting past the smells of The Underground, beginning to breathe in clean air. Amara grinned, hoisting herself up even further. The two were making good progress, the hope was there. However, the winds grew bigger and the two of them were starting to descend down because they were both too heavy for the rope to support them. This led to Cameron making a choice, a choice that'll influence the rest of his days.

"Amara..we're both not going to make it..I hope it's clear up there." He lightly chuckled, deciding to let his grasp go of the rope, plummeting down into the depths of The Underground.

Her eyes widened with a shock, knowing that she still must climb in his honour. She's holding on, upside down. Amara was on her way to The Upside now, continuing to make it her mission to reach the top. She was inside out but won't give up, she was very passionate. Hours turned into oblivion, felt like an eternity. With nearly all hope lost, the specks in her eyes glistened like diamonds, seeing she had made it to the top. Exhaustion was running through her body, laying down on the top. Her head turned to see a bustling city, tall skyscraper buildings illuminated with neon lights, starry skies and better conditions. She had made it to The Upside.