Roof Job

The dying motor of the blue vehicle awoke her from the hypnotic lights that weaved in and out of the sky. The time was irrelevant, yet it still picked her up from the roof and plopped her outside the door. There was one last gaze upward before the door clicked and the stars were left alone once more. 

By two in the afternoon, the crisp soda from the corner- whose brand only ever attracted her- would be bought. Walking further down, the fence peeked out, where the beat metal gave easy access to slip through. Chugging the last of the bubbly can, the 25¢ recyclable was an honest payment to the janitor who kept the window cracked open for her and the others to hop right on in.

Arriving at the usual time, the group popped right on in to the humming of that air conditioned building. It even had plaques to direct.

Level 1: Check In and Recreation

The pool back at the eldest’s apartment complex, generous with crying kids and floaties, could not compare to the divine ocean contained in the Hotel that just spoke fluent wealth. The complementary waters and snacks always left untouched by those silvered hands were naturally dived into by the group.

It was a simple routine- races, dives, drown each other in a game of tag, and lazily climb out as the sun was about to make the afternoon glow gold. 

When it was mentioned that a movie was premiering later that night, a cough trumpeted. The four pairs of eyes met up with a cap. With true attempts to outrun the cap before it marked their location, everyone still met up at the following street- making that sly attempt of crisscrossing through the alley a waste of breath. 

There would only be a job tonight. 

With that cap still cross at the determined avoidance, there was going to be a job for everyone. 

The silence from the group gave a level of satisfaction to where the jobs had no strict time limit that night- meaning the group was able to complete the chores as a whole. 

Everyone’s head was fully dry when they commenced the first job- repainting the warehouse near the blue slushie gas station. It wasn’t that blue slushies were rare in gas stations, but that there was a botched robbery involving a masked hoodie slipping on blue slushie spewing from the rickety machine, after failing to get a customer to the front. The group preferred cherry.

The artistic directions to drop offs and meet ups decorated that miserable building. And while the Michelangelos were spraying the paint on the wall, typical passive aggressive jokes mixed right on in. She thought it was the eldest’s obnoxious orange sweater, faded and colorful. The eldest thought it was the obnoxious lead into the alley sparked by stubbornest. The stubbornest thought it was the tallest’s, obnoxious with height. The tallest thought it was her humor, making everyone go about in an obnoxious cackle.

And truthfully, it was just the fault of the obnoxious cap.

The blue hour was streaming when the group went to the second job. There begins the heavy swarm of people going out for dinner, celebrations, fun- pickpocketing. Each took a specific block to mauvear their quick hands. They were only going to stick around for no more than fifteen minutes. The skill is not a hard one, and they’ve never revealed the true savants they are to these ambushing debt collectors. So when the clocked strolled to a finish, an agreeably mediocre sum collectively gathered, along with sudden complimentary snacks, sent them on their way. 

There was another dog-walker in the past ten minutes. Another street crowded with attention. The growing number of filled buildings aggravated the group as much as being told to scout them. The uniform junkyard that was that neighborhood crossed paths with the stubbornest many times in life- automatically giving the title of leader to this case. The yellow lamped streets coating the craters of pavement was an enemy to any moving metal, so while not many cars came to visit those parts, that didn’t mean others didn’t enjoy its company of silence. The rest of the group could deliver their best opinion of quiet streets, but without the blessing of a stubborn nod, everyone simply took turns pointing out sections to contribute to a consideration.

The hours went to rest, awaking at the now secured money order freshly taped under the city dumpster. The other three went to hang up advertisements.

Neighborhood Watch: Keep an eye out

 It nicely trailed to the assignment of job two, waiting patiently for a greedy cap to abduct

it. Putting up the final flyer on the dumpster, the sighs lifted the group to their last and final job.

                                 *** 

No Trespas i g

Lovely sentiment that rusted sign, long forgotten by whatever company put it up, gave. The tallest was the only one curious about this job. The warehouse was given the lovely view of city lights and hills- probably as reconciliation for the abandonment. The natural light that belonged to the sky was the only one to reveal the building’s shape.

Walking forwards, they went to crawl through the dark eyes that once had glass lids to protect them. It just seemed like an odd day at the Hotel. The discontinued machinery replaced the people. The sea of scrubs replaced the pool.

Their eyes adjusting to batteried keychain lights, went in search of the supplies. This quickly went in search of individual’s interests- that being the sudden interest there was to monitors with chewed wires hanging out the sides or the referring to the other as doctor after putting the lime green scrubs on. The humor was revived and with no better timing. 

The spotlights shone through the gaping holes of the warehouse. It was a logical guess that the group would be in the warehouse about now, but that cap never used logic, so naturally rage was what was used to seek them out. Then came the slam of the metal. Finally, the all too familiar capped soul entered. This business was not one anyone wanted to involve themselves in. The four scattered into the maze. 

The shadow began screeching.

They never did understand this tantrum was out of this cap’s own trouble with his capped dictator. How were they to know that there was an actual time limit of the supplies to be picked up from the closet next to the tallest’s hiding spot. How was it their fault that the reason the beaten and bruised figure, now hissing their fate, was beaten and bruised from the boss not receiving such a box. How was the eldest supposed to know that while backing into the nook of boxes, one with a machine inside would be sent over as that cap took a breath in between the frenzy and hear the thump. 

Instantly boxes, machines, papers- all flew out to distort the reality. Two used the roof access and locked it, and two went through the shattered window and up the pipe to get the roof. The count only reached three when she was pulled. One hand was just about to reach the ledge as another hand grabbed that leg climbing the pipe. The gasps the whole group made- her included- felt like enough wind to bring her up, yet she still continued the opposite direction.

It was in the middle of the plight where the point of view changed from the roof to the sky. That point of view stayed after too- not letting her leave the hypnosis this time. The stars were no longer alone. The stars gazed at her as she gazed back, and they continued to do so as the passing by sounds of a wheezing motor, belonging to a blue vehicle, no longer sputtered.