Pedestrian

A TMNT Drabble

-The idea for this came from a random word generator site that I went to. I decided to build a story around that one word, and the word it gave me was (obviously) 'pedestrian'. This drabble is an attempt to break a 5-month writer's block.

Sometimes a turtle just has to sit down and wonder what the hell he's fighting for anymore. Sometimes he has to take a good hard look around and try and discover just what the hell is left in this city worth saving.

Already tonight, Leonardo had stopped five muggings, prevented three rapes, broken up four drug deals, and given one very strict, very angry lecture to a very drunk homeless man who must have thought that Hell itself had opened up and sent this dark demonic reptilian visage up to claim his very soul if he didn't stop wasting his life away in a back alley under a cardboard box with a bottle of cheap whiskey. The look on the vagrant's face as this unearthly fiend had stolen his liquor bottle and shattered it into a nearby trashcan was one of fear and repentance; and he had blubbered and cried and begged drunken forgiveness that hadn't been Leonardo's to give.

"Get to a shelter and sober up!" Leo had felt a strong urge to grab the man by his dirty, probably flea-infested, coat and throw him in the direction of the Helping Hands mission that had been only two blocks away. The homeless man however, in a moment of astounding wisdom had gotten up of his own accord and stumbled out of the alley and made a frantic, if drunken, beeline for the shelter. Tonight he would get some hot coffee and a warm bed, and maybe… just maybe... realize that there was more to life than the bottle.

Not that it mattered… even if that man did find a new life away from the dumpsters and the cardboard boxes, tomorrow night there would be two more to take his place. It was a losing battle. It was nights like that that made Leonardo seriously doubt his mission in life. Why protect a city that gave nothing back? A city, that despite all his best efforts, was worse off today than when he first started defending it five years ago.

The activities of the night had seriously taken a toll on Leo's emotional foundation, and he feared that if he saw one more act of violence tonight, he just might say 'to hell with it', and let whatever would happen, happen. The idea depressed him even further and he hated himself for even thinking it.

Nights like this… nights like this were when Leo strayed from his usual patrol and made his way across the city to the top of a small brick building that looked out onto a relatively quiet street. He comes here on the nights when he thinks he just can't take it anymore… always to this same spot, and always at the same time, so he could watch for the same thing that always gives him something worth fighting for again.

He wasn't sure why the sight always cheered him up. It made no sense. He didn't even know the woman's name, but every night like clockwork she walked up this street and entered the little coffee shop that was on the first floor of the building he now stood on.

Leonardo had never saved her life, had never even seen her up close... and he didn't need to in order to see that this woman was beautiful… The first time he had seen her was two years ago, on a night quite like this one. He had stopped for a rest and time to think and had ended up watching the people pass on the street wondering if they were even aware of how lucky they were to not live in the gritty side of the city that he saw every night. And then, he'd seen her.

She had been walking up the street, neither hurried no lingering; she was just… strolling. The woman hadn't been tall. She'd worn a white button-up blouse with the top button open and a modest knee length brown skirt that had flowed gently around her as she walked. Her tan boots had had a flat heel and there was a cheerful step in her otherwise casual demeanor. The way she had moved seemed to radiate with an inner peace and happiness that he had never seen any other living creature.

Long blonde hair had flown gently behind her like a never ending waterfall and he'd wondered if she had ever cut it in her life. There'd been a healthy vibrant shine to her dark golden crown and he'd known it was all natural. A woman like that would never look for beauty in a box. The very idea would be appalling to her. As absolutely as he'd known that, he had also known that she had brown eyes. Deep dark chocolate yes that you would get lost in were you to meet her gaze. Eyes that pierced your very soul and challenged you to think upon the wonders and magnificence of this life, and then dare you to find a single thing in your life that could ever overshadow the simple joy of just… being.

Every time he came here to watch the woman, he couldn't understand how those few people that passed her on the street didn't stop and stare in wonder at her as he did. How could they not see that there was something special… something different about her? How could they not feel the peace and joy and warmth that he felt every time he saw her?

He had thought, more than once, that perhaps she was an angel only he could see; a being sent here to give him the calm and peace of mind that he found himself lacking lately.

Leonardo leaned as far over the brick railing of the roof as he felt was safe without being seen by anyone below. The street wasn't busy, but that didn't mean it wasn't well lit. Perhaps twenty minutes had passed since he'd arrived, when he spotted the flowing gold mane and his heart skipped a few beats.

She was wearing a light blue sweater in the early autumn night, and a flowing white layered skirt. The same tan boots that she had worn the first night he saw her were again on her feet as she stepped noiselessly down the street. Her hands were clasped together near the hem of her sweater in an almost nonchalant fashion as she walked, and as she grew closer to the building where he perched, Leo could see that she was holding a book in front of her. He wished he could see the title; had he know what it was, he would leave as soon as she was inside the café and go find a copy for himself.

The woman was directly across the street now and she had come to a stop. It was routine, every night she would pause at that exact spot and wait for a moment to cross the street. She never used the crosswalk at either end of the street… no. Never the crosswalk. Always right in front of him, waiting until that perfect moment between cars where she neither had to slow down nor speed her step up, but just walk across the street as if the cars themselves had magically parted just for her.

Today though… she paused longer than normal. With a cautious movement, Leonardo leaned out just a bit further to see what had caught her attention. He nearly fell from the roof when she turned her head up with a curious gaze to meet his own.

Leonardo froze. He could almost feel those dark eyes piercing his very essence, questioning his soul and laying his heart open bare for her to see. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, and time seemed to stand still. She could have been looking at him for mere seconds… or a hundred years could have passed. Time seemed to have no meaning when she was looking at him.

But then the moment was over, as if it hadn't happened. She turned her head away from his for one last glance at traffic and then made her way across the street. Stepping onto the sidewalk with that small bounce in her step, she didn't give him another look as she opened the door to the café and strolled inside.

Suddenly out of breath and a little light-headed, Leo collapsed onto the roof, his back to the street. Had he imagined it? Perhaps he'd become so enamored… so obsessed… Was his mind starting to play tricks on him? She couldn't possibly have seen him…

Leo took a few large breaths and his head started to clear. He laughed to himself slightly, if only to try to tell himself that his eyes were just playing tricks on him. It had been a rough night, and this was just him wishing too hard. Wishing that the woman walking down the street would notice him… would see in him the wonder and beauty that he sees in her. Would love him… the way he had come to love her.

No… she wasn't an angel. Leonardo stood up and took another deep breath. Angels didn't exist in this town. A lifetime of being alone had made him come to fantasize about a woman he'd never met. This image of an angel… someone left in this city that was worth fighting for… The woman was real enough, he knew that. But she couldn't possibly be all that he imagined he saw in her…

But still… the sight of her had raised his spirits, just as it did every time he saw her. Maybe she wasn't a real angel… but she was still something worth fighting for.

Author's Notes:

Ok. So this was supposed to be a one-page drabble… It turned into a three page drabble. Uhg. I just had to type this up and try to get the creative juices flowing again. It's been months since I've written anything and I feel horrible about it. I didn't mean to abandon Misadventures, I've just been swamped with personal stuff lately and it's been hard to find time to sit down and write anything. As it is, I've denied myself much needed sleep to get this out.

I'm sorry it's not beta'd, so if there's any glaring mistakes, I completely blame myself. My bad.

-Melodist