68th Glade 107 Year of the Age of Steel¤
She pushed open the window and allowed the rain to pour into her bedroom. Surveying the streets Kalzasi was devoid of people making it the perfect night for some shenanigans. Pulling herself up into the window she lowered herself down onto the awning and dropped with a loud thump. Nervous she whipped her head to her parent’s bedroom but just then a huge crack of thunder rippled through the night. Not wasting any time she hopped down from the awning the same as her window, lowering herself first then dropping to the ground she crumpled in a heap but got up quickly. She was now sopping wet from the mud puddle she landed in and the little girl liked that just fine.
Spending the first few moments running from her home hopping through any mud puddles she came across she felt finally free! Free indeed, from her parent’s judgemental and tormenting eyes. They expected too much of her, too much! This was her secret vengeance. Even if they didn’t know what she was up to all the better, she had enough of stuffy rooms and being treated like a toy doll, to be discarded when they pleased. In short, the young girl’s heart was hurt and she was itching to get away with something.
One of their most hated things was when she practiced her jumping and parkour. That was what she decided to do tonight. This night would be when she perfected the wall run, well away from their scolding. The young girl had been practicing it in her mind for days ever since she noticed the perfect wall for vaulting up on a regular route she and her father took through the city. It was a sad thing, she was never able to practice her true joy, running, jumping, and getting dirty. They expected her to practice with makeup and pretend like she ever wanted to get married instead as if she were some bartering chip like the rest of their stock. Boys were disgusting and she would never be anyone’s bride!
Cruising through the streets like a shark on a warpath she soon came face to face with the wall. It would be hard with the storm, everything was soaked to the bone-- even she was now soaked having only been outside for 20 minutes. She was in a back alley where a high wall backed up against the stairs leading to what must be some shop’s storeroom. There was an awning over the door to the stairs which was perfect, she would be able to safely land there without slipping from the wet. Taking her first strides she faked herself out and turned away from the wall at the last second, slipping in the rain. Fortunately for her, she was able to keep her balance and continue running back to the starting point. It was exhilarating being out in the storm, feeling her feet beat against the pavement occasionally lit by lightning. The crash of thunder fueling the adrenaline of her excursion. The only thing on her mind now was getting this task done.
She tried again, this time the little girl jumping up and making contact with the wall with one foot before it slid down the wet stone and she slammed in the ground. Trying again and again and again was all the same, she either would simply kick the wall or catch some air and immediately fall to the ground. Eventually, though she was able to catch herself from the fall, landing on her feet instead of body slamming into the puddles on the ground. Had she not been in the middle of Kalzasi she may have taken her clothes off, they were soaked and doing more harm than good but even in Saej’s revenge she wouldn’t do something so dangerous or stupid.
Thinking hard now she tried to picture what she was doing wrong. It had to be the angle and the jump itself, she needed more air. This time she tried taking off her shoes and going barefoot but that seemed to go even worse, her feet simply sliding down the stone. On again went her shoes. She tried one last time, feeling the tension in her tiny body rise as she got frustrated. It was at this point she did it, one step turned into two, turned into three, and then she was angling down to run back to the ground. Hugging herself first she then threw her arms out and let the rain pelt her in the face, she had finally done it! She let her tongue come out of her mouth and drank the rain, laughing and giggling to herself with total glee. The little girl was a masterpiece at that moment feeling like the gods themselves and accomplished as no one would ever know.
Practicing this again she found she had figured it out somehow. Now the real test, vaulting up and onto the stone steps. It took some tries and some humility when she again fell or merely kicked the wall but she could feel herself understanding more and more. Her body was becoming cold, bruised, and tired but she refused to let up the game. Six more tries later she had vaulted up the wall and leaped from the apex of the run to grab for the stairs. Her hands found purchase and her body slammed into the brick where she used her upper body strength to pull herself up and under the awning. The little girl perched on top of the brick for a moment before climbing down and leaning up against the door in a heap, wringing out her soaked, baggy clothes.
She breathed there for some time, catching her breath; the slow, raggedy streams of tired triumph. That was when she heard it, a warbling coming from the top of the alley. From where she was seated the brick wall making up the stairwell she couldn’t see who or what it was. Something in her child’s brain clicked then and she just knew it was a monster from the Warrens. Would she be safe here? The warbling drew nearer and nearer until she could see the silhouette of something large heading straight towards the awning. Adrenaline now coursing through her veins she got up, vaulted down the side of the brick wall, and booked it home. The homeless man was none the wiser, his drunken singing was never claimed to be the best and he was just happy to get out of the rain. There where she had been moments before he found his spot to sleep for the night safe from the storm.
Something about this night was made even more perfect by the monster, it made what she did dangerous and real. She thought she may never forget it. It was as if a part of her had been set free, like a bird allowed to sing in its whole glory after escaping a cage. The fact she could outrun a monster too by far was the best part. This was a night she would dream about in her later years, something about it spoke of triumph and joy. The thrill of the chase and something more. Something that could only be spoken of in beating hearts and tears of joy. Even despite what happened next.
She looked back only once when her house was in sight to see if she was being pursued by the monster but she did a great job. The house looked quiet and using her newfound trick she vaulted up onto the awning, slipping but catching herself, and then jumping into her bedroom like a cat burglar. Lightning flashed in the room revealing a person there waiting. At first, Saej thought it was the monster but no, it was a different one. There she was greeted by her mother who screamed at her and beat her across her bottom with a belt. Saej cried for two days after that as her parents boarded up her window that next morning. There would be no rain or even sunshine in that room again.
