My Name Is Schedule

On Three

Time itself slowed down as I leapt through the air. I was falling, and the only thing I had to hold onto was the faint hope that I would not die as gravity took its effect.

I was falling, falling, falling--

I gasped as my whole body slammed against a building and left an intense throbbing pain aching through it. My hands slid were sliding down the roof as I frantically grabbed at the tile. I was hardly aware of Kyran's sharp gasp of horror, and all too aware of my feet dangling far above the concrete.

All the sudden it was a lot harder to hold onto the tile. 

I was could barely grip the cold, wet tile. I could feel the weight of my body slowly pulling it out of its place. It was holding for the moment, but I knew it was slowly and surely coming off the roof.

I was breathing so hard that I could barely think, but I swung my foot onto the roof and just managed to pull myself up. My heart was beating terribly, and I hurt all over. My arms had never felt so shaky and weak.

But I had made it! Here, I was alive--and had I ever been so before?! Had I ever felt this rush, this feeling of life, this thrill of survival!

Yes, my hands were shaking, and I was still regaining my breath, but I felt the best I had in a long time. 

I laughed.

From giddiness or sheer relief of terror, I could not say, but I had never laughed so hard in my life. It proved to be quite contagious, as Kyran could not contain himself either. I wished I could capture that moment forever, and I did my best to take in the night sky and the sound of forbidden laughter and the weakness of my arms and to keep it in my memory.

"You coming over?"

Kyran grinned and nodded. "Yeah, wish me luck."

"You don't need it."

But the branch bent under him as he jumped, and disrupted his leap. His face contorted into one of horror as his arms flailed wildly. I scrambled forward, fearing with a sickening jolt that he would be gone, but without even realizing how I had time to process it, I shot out a hand and grabbed his. I clung to a piece of tile with my other, hoping it wouldn't give out and kill us.

My hands hurt like they were being pulled apart between holding onto the tile and holding onto Kyran, but he grabbed the side of the roof with his other hand, and then I managed to help him up enough so that he could swing his leg over. A tile fell off the roof and shattered, but at that point, all I cared was that we were alive. I could barely manage a smile, and I just lied back on the roof, listening to our heavy breathing. I looked at him. His hair and eyes were wild, bright with adrenaline and nerve. 

He finally found his voice, and grabbed by hand. "Thanks."

I nodded, trying to catch my breath. "Good thing I went first, isn't it?"

Kyran just managed to smile. 

I wanted to stay there forever, breathing in the cold night air and looking at the stars and feeling like for once in my life, I was alive...but Kyran squeezed my hand and reminded me with a murmur of our mission. He sat up, and held up his hand to help me up. I took it, and he pulled me up. We stood there, standing on the roof, and could see far around Schedule.

"Look at that," he murmured. "That's everything. Everything we know, and we can see it in a glance."

"It's nothing," I said, and despite the warmth of Kyran standing so close to me, I shivered. Every house looked the same. Every building had the same simplistic design and dull colors. "It's nothing, at all."