.::The Meltdown::.
Ten Thousand Steps;
Tap, tap, tap.
My footsteps are the only sound in the darkness of the night, and they are light as a feather. I look down at my feet, covered only by white sneakers.
I wear a white shirt, with magenta colored pants, although the magenta is fading to a light pink, and the shirt is now almost gray from dirt.
This outfit almost reminds me of myself.
The time is two o'clock in the morning. The only things illuminating the way this dark night are the streetlights and the moon. I know there are police cars along the streets, but only in one basic area. The road that has all of the nightclubs. I do not cross that way; I go through the next street. I do this not to avoid the drunken freaks, but to avoid the officers. I do this because this is the way to the nuclear reactor.
Tap, tap, tap.
I never, ever thought myself lucky for having a small nuclear power plant nearby our town. But then again, it never crossed my mind that I would ever bring myself near it, even less towards it.
Everybody knew that it was there, and people often joked about it exploding and 'killing us all'. I did not find it funny. At all.
As I near the plant, I notice a shadow lurking by the entrance of the metal fencing.
There is a security guard.
It is expected. You wouldn't want the before mentioned explosion to actually occur, would you?
I turn on my heel and quickly slip to my right. The security guard seems to be dozing off, obviously a veteran of the job, knowing that nobody would bother targeting such a nameless plant in the first place. I take a deep breath and slide over slowly, carefully, holding my breath. While I stay silent, I can hear his loud snoring.
A disgrace of a metal gate now sits in front of me, a disgrace of a security guard next to me. There is a small lock on the gate. I peek over to the side and see a key in the man's pocket. Certainly a disgrace.
Before I know it, I'm inside and the still-sleeping worker is outside. He has certainly been asleep for quite some time; otherwise the creak of the door would have awoken him.
Tap, tap, tap.
The nuclear reactor is now in front of me. For some reason, I don't feel anything. I am staring at a large, smoking structure. My future.
But I have already played this scene out in my mind one too many times. I expected this.
Nothing happens as I walk around it. Nothing happens when I see the ladder. Nothing happens when I begin climbing. I go up, up, up. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap.
Tap.
I stop, suddenly frozen. I can feel the heat radiating now, and my stomach begins to churn. My mind whirls and I don't know what to do. I cannot look down, I cannot look up. I feel myself shake slightly, but I take a deep breath and begin counting the number of rungs left.
One, two, three, four, five. My eyes scan over the rest.
There are exactly ten. I stare at them, re-counting over and over again. I lift my foot slowly, but it shakes.
Am I wavering?
No, that cannot be. I bring the same foot up again, and yet again it quivers in fear. I bring it back down, and it nearly slips off of the footing. My breath catches and I tighten my grip. Cautiously, I look down.
A mistake. The height makes me dizzy and I quickly turn back.
Yes, I am wavering. I am indecisive. Because I could make my trip into the city. Because I could confidently walk all the way. Because I could sneak past the sleeping shadow. Because I could fly up to the tip of my goal.
I made it, nine thousand nine hundred and ninety steps. I made it. But not to the very top.
Because, for an indecisive person, the last ten steps are always the hardest.
Ten Steps;