A/N: This is just a little thing that I had originally wrote for my creative writing class but, because I'm unable to think about anything else, it turned out a little TMNT-ish, so I posted it. I hope you enjoy it! :)
Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own TMNT, just this story idea.
A Need to Convince
It's a cool night for the middle of August. No overwhelming heat, no crushing humidity; just a soft smooth breeze flowing like silk over my skin. Tonight's surprisingly calm and quiet. The usual noises of sirens and car horns are down to a minimum. Someone's finally found the volume controls on this city. The corner of my mouth rises in a slight smirk at the thought. New York is not capable of being silent for long.
I turn my gaze upward as the blinking white and red lights of an airplane pass above me in the charcoaled night sky, the gentle humming of its engines straining to reach my ears. I've always wondered what it would be like to ride in an airplane; to be suspended high above the earth, for it to become a patchwork quilt with a disorienting mess of greens, browns, and blues. I wince, failing at my attempt to ward off an attack of quaking shivers. I hate heights; I have for as long as I can remember. When I was little just looking down from the second floor to the first floor of my home made me so dizzy I'd vomit. Since then, my brothers have not missed a chance to tease me about my so called "fear of heights".
I look out over the nearby buildings, all shorter than the one I'm standing on. Catching a glimpse of the street below, I automatically close my eyes and back away. I hate heights. I don't really even know why I came up here. My brothers come up here all the time to play games, hang out, or to just have some alone time; none of them ever seem to notice that they're at least fifteen stories above the ground. On the other hand, I never come here alone. Not like its anything special anyway; it's just the roof of the apartment building Casey lives in. All flat and cement covered, a square hut looking thing in the middle where the stairs leading into the building hide behind a lightly rusted metal door.
I open my eyes and look out at the distant horizon with a fog of irritation and frustration looming around me. I'm being ridiculous; my brothers are younger than me and they're not afraid. I take a reluctant step forward. If this is fear, then I need to face it head on. I start to walk, my stride full of determined confidence. It is only a few yards to the edge but by the time I get there my courage is gone and my gait is now more hesitant. I suck in as much air as my lungs could possibly hold, then slowly let it seep out. Oddly, the car exhaust and cigarette smoke mixed into the ambling breeze soothed me a little.
Cautiously, I focus on the people and cars going about their business so far below me. The street lights illuminating large circles around themselves, yet somehow not interrupting the others. The people were slinking in and out of the shadows between the bright spots like ghosts. It's almost midnight and the sidewalks are still crowded with pedestrians rushing to their destinations. New York has always had a knack for living up to its many names, 'the city that never sleeps' being one of them.
As I continue studying the scene play out, my head begins to lighten and spin while my stomach churns and flips. Within seconds up becomes down and nausea sets in. I yank myself back my hands and knees slamming into the cement as my whole body convulses from dry heaving and coughing. A metallic acid overwhelms my taste buds causing me to gag more until my throat stings. I really hate heights.
I get back to my feet wiping the grime off me. My first attempt may have failed but I'm not done yet. I refuse to be teased anymore by my brothers. So, I creep back towards the edge feeling like a small animal trying to sneak around a dangerous predator. I stop a few feet before it to brace myself. I swallow hard a few times and jump up and down, ready for everything. Just as I am about to take the next step, two hands apply just enough pressure to send me to the cement again with my head far enough out to see the distant street.
My head spun and my stomach lurched. The lines on the street pulsed, strips of yellow and white brighten and dim rapidly in the faint light. The world around me tilts up to the right causing my body to want to topple to the left, then everything leans left and the incessant swaying sends me reeling as I bolt away from the edge. This time I couldn't keep my supper down and my stomach rapidly emptied all its contents. Meanwhile, my youngest brother stood there clutching his stomach laughing hysterically at my suffering.
"I thought you said you weren't afraid of heights anymore, bro," he barely manages to say through fits of giggles.
I got up and wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand, then left him there as I sprinted and jumped to the next building without a word, my mouth set in a tense line the entire way home. I seriously hate heights…but I refuse to be afraid.
A/N: Any thoughts on this would be awesome. Review please!