The Ladder

His fear had finally consumed him. Its horizontal steps ate away at his thoughts. It had been three years since the ladder. Never before had he feared anything. He was the first one out of everyone he knew to try something different. He had always laid all his risks out on the table for on lookers to admire. Now he was lucky if anyone even spoke to him. The sandy brown bricks pressed hard against his back. It had rained the night before and his grip was failing him. Again he tried reaching for the final step but fell short when he felt his feet slipping. The burden grew heavy upon his shoulders now releasing the ego in his mind. He hadn’t always been so proud. Once when he was a boy he could care less about the thoughts and judgments of others. It was that winter, the eve of his twelfth birthday that led him to fame and destruction.

Tommy Hatchet, a bully, had chased me to the roof of the school. He hit me repeatedly and when he was finished he hung me over the side by my ankles. The point Tommy was trying to prove was never spoken aloud or understood. But I knew my role in this sick twisted game. I was supposed to piss myself so that Tommy would have the ultimate power against me. He had plenty of slaves here, why was he so eager to have me as well? I had pondered this many times before, hoping never to end up in a situation like I was then. The only real answer I could come up with was because I knew him, inside and out. I knew what made him tic. And so I did what I had to, to take control. Realizing Tommy wouldn’t drop me, and even if he had there were about thirty students directly under me. Surly I would hit one of them on the way down. I swung my head around to glare Tommy in the eyes. He was an ugly little f****r. Round rosy cheeks squeezed beside two brown eyes and a snout. His greasy red hair sat atop the monstrous fuckers face. Then I felt his fingers begin to slip on my ankles. His attention switched for merely a second and I took my chance. I swung as hard as I could and hit that fat b*****d right between the eyes. He fell quickly to the pavement, toppling over me, and together we made our way into history. Of course it took about three months of hospital trips to collect my fame but in the end I believed it was worth it. From there I did what I had two to keep my fans happy. I once rode my bike off a bridge into a dried out creek and broke two on my ribs. I attacked the High school quarterback of a rivalry team while he was sitting on the bench. Needless to say his team mates made a lovely painting of my face. But the pain was my friend. I understood it more than anything. It was the one thing in my life I could always count on, and that would never leave. I looked out on all my cheering fans, their love was overwhelming. But I noticed how abstract the faces became. Large blots began to run down their faces as the image of my life slowly melted away. The ladder had returned to me. I was hanging now only by my ankles. As if Tommy Hatchet had taken over the ladder. My thoughts ran clear now; I was no longer the boy of danger. I was a man now, an old man of sixty years old. My life had been wasted on the pleasures of others. The ladder was not judging me, it simply just was. It cared less if I made it to the top of fell to the bitter harshness of the world. My youth was finally over.

“Grandpa are you alright? How long have you been hanging there?”  A soft voice shouted from beneath me. I turned as best I could to see the voice. It was my grandson. Hid name was Gabriel. Like the arch angel sent from heaven to save us from our sins. He was no real angel but right then, at that moment in time he was my angel, my savior.

“Gabriel go get your dad and help an old foolish man down. I’m not as young as I use to be you know.”  And so Gabriel did as he was told and when I made my way down from the ladder and the pride of my youth, I realized, I had much more to be proud of than those stupid tricks I use to pull off as a boy. I had a loving family and a juicy turkey awaiting me on this fine Thanksgiving Day.  

Reviews

[Hello, Goodbye]

great story

[deeps]

I like this story such wonderful detail and imagery in this write. This is a very well written story.