My Perfect Escape    by Laura-Ines Piantini

    I lived in an old red brick apartment complex on the top floor, considering the apartment complex was very small there were only three floors and housed only about fifteen residents. The landlord owned the lower basement with his office and a small floral shop on the street corner. Sometimes he would give us free flowers -daises, tulips and even the imperfect pink roses he could not use. Although my parents didn’t care for him too much from the entire hassle he put us through when he didn’t do his job and fix things. As a matter of fact, I didn’t care much for him or his gaudy apartment building with brown carpet and tarnished ceilings. It seemed I didn’t like any of the apartments or the ugly memories that came with it even as a child. The only thing I found myself quite intrigued by was our fire escape.
    I remember staring out my window, watching the sparrow’s swoop down and land right on my fire escape. I wanted to touch them, to be just like them, to be able to travel and fly around the world and see everything. I remember my mother holding my hand as I reached out to the thick shiny black bars that would soon become my safe haven and my view to the outside world. I remember sitting on the open black landing for hours watching the noisy cars go by, listening to the sounds of the earth.
    Many people wondered why I did this, my parents mostly; they couldn’t understand why I want to look at a view of nothing. There weren’t any green mountains or city lights, only an old abandoned car repair shop less than twenty feet away from where I stood and twelve parking spaces for residents.
    For me, I didn’t need to be looking at anything to know the beauty of it even at the age five. I had the sky, the air and sun beaming on my face that kept me mesmerized for hours, I thought that if I left the fire escape, I would miss something.
    I remember dangling my legs off the edge of the landing, my parents were always afraid I was going to fall but I never did, sometimes they would surprise me and join me on the fire escape. My dad would cook outside on the grill and my mother would bring out some bubbles for us to share. It was everything to me, I’d dream of being in the circus on a high trapeze or being a giant as I looked down at the cars. Sometimes I ’d stare up at the sky thinking that I was a part of it.
    Whatever, it was the fire escape where I loved to be. As I got older, my mother started to let me go out on my own if I wanted to, even when I stayed home by myself. Sometimes I would sit on the fire escape and I would cry and as time went by, I’d go out and stand on the fire escape to look at all the things I never noticed before when I was little. The roof of the neighboring hospital with its large smokestacks and at night made the sky look purple. I even discovered a large pine tree from a neighborhood behind the car shop; it seemed like the new place where all the birds had gone. Even now, I’d see more blue jays and cardinals, than swallows and robin red breasts.
    Just as I started to grow, so did my memories on the fire escape. My dreams of flying and circuses turned into best friends, television and boys. As I got bigger and my fire escape got smaller, things became more clearly to me, on how my life really was.
    It was down to my final days with the fire escape, my perfect view, my passionate memories and everything I would have to leave behind. I couldn’t take it with me, I had learned its beauty and now it was time to move on. As I left, I stood to look out on the fire escape landing one more time, gripped the shiny black railings, listening to the sounds of nature and breathed in the surrounding air. I looked at it all, as I had never had before. I will never forget how I felt. All that I knew, I was leaving but in my heart, I felt those memories would never be left behind.
                         

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