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NO WAY DOWN
Falling Into the Sky
The Vignette Gazette Writer’s Prompt #253 | basement
Every floor in this city has a basement.
I knew that. So I rented this room.
People who can only afford a penthouse, the lower class, probably cannot understand the comfort of a basement.
Surrounded by the ground on all four sides.
That alone was enough.
Every morning, the residents leave their basements for work. They go down. Some use the stairs. Some use the elevator. Some use a ladder.
I live on the forty-third floor.
More precisely, I live in the basement of the forty-third floor.
The buildings hang from the ground. So if the floor gives way, it is dangerous.
Sometimes, people fall from windows.
Toward the sky.
In this city, we call it suicide by jumping.
Recently, I stopped leaving my basement.
I feel safe when I am surrounded by walls.
Last night, I looked up at the ceiling.
There was a crack.
