Scene IV: Into the Night
341 Words
Damn… it’s cold out here.
…Funny. Feels like it matches my frozen heart.
Why are they all looking at me?
Gerald slips into an alley.
Quick. Quiet.
He climbs—something he’s been practicing… just never this high.
A small struggle.
A slip.
Then—
He makes it.
Up on the rooftop.
He steps toward the ledge.
Looks out over Boston…
A city he’s never really been sure of.
For a second—
He thinks about jumping.
…
Instead—
He fakes it.
Drops forward—
Catches himself in a straddle planche.
Holds.
Then slowly…
lifts into a handstand.
Still.
Controlled.
Balanced… for once.
I can’t tell you how long he held it.
But you can see it…
His body starts to shiver.
The wind cuts through him—hands going numb.
Can’t even feel the small rocks digging into his palms anymore.
Still… he holds.
Then slowly—
Gerald lowers himself…
into an L-sit.
Controlled.
Barely.
—
Down below…
someone’s watching.
A kid.
Probably wasn’t supposed to be out this far
—
mom said two blocks and back.
But there he is.
Standing still…
looking up.
As Gerald holds the L-sit…
he hears something from below.
A voice.
He shifts—sits up on the ledge properly.
Looks down.
The little boy is still there… staring up.
He waves.
Gerald pauses—
then waves back.
Footsteps.
The boy’s sister catches up, calling his name.
She follows his gaze… and spots Gerald.
“Come on,” she says, trying to pull him away.
But the kid won’t move.
Locked in.
Watching… like he’s seeing a superhero on TV.
Like if he looks away—he might miss it.
Gerald smiles.
Just a little.
Then—
from the ledge—
he jumps.
A clean seated drop into a backflip.
Lands out of sight.
—
By the time they look again…
he’s gone.
—
Gerald walks back home.
Quiet.
But there’s a smile on his face now.
Because somewhere—
that kid’s about to talk someone’s ear off…
about what he just saw.
- Writer
