David’s heart beat at a constant 144 bpm as he leapt over a set of stairs, his hands acting as the fulcrum as he swung his legs up to the next landing. The movement flowed continuously, like water moving upstream. His feet landed firmly and his body seemed to roll through the move as he rotated his body around and looked up to find the railing of the stairway one floor above him.
He jumped up and grabbed hold of the edge, pulling his full body’s weight up until his feet could press against the concrete surface and send his body over the edge of the railing. The garage was long and empty, with only square columns made of concrete and rebar scattered throughout the structure. David chose his path and headed towards the first column, leaping toward it and running two steps along the wall before landing back on the ground, still sprinting towards the next target.
At the next column he did a back-flip off of the wall, landing in a crouch with one knee to the ground and his hands at his side, fingers splayed out onto the pavement. His eyes shifted to the edge of the garage and sprinted forward. The wall that lined the edge of the garage was only 4 feet high and gave a wide 10 foot gap before the next floor, which David took at a stride as he gave a short push with his legs and sprung his body up onto the ledge, pushing off again and soaring into the open sky.
He landed with a slight thump, rolling head-first with his momentum as he landed on the roof of the ticket taker building next to the garage. A woman had let out a scream upon seeing David’s body fly out from the garage, only ceasing when she saw him swing off of the edge of the guard hut, in a mid-air cartwheel before landing on the blacktop. He glanced up at her face, frozen in fear, and gave her a quick smile as he moved away and over a chain link fence as fast as a cat.
“I think you gave that lady a heart attack,” said Josh as he saw David appear from in-between two buildings. “Yeah well, at least she’ll have a story to tell her friends,” David said with a grin upon his face. “Ready?”
“Catch me if you can,” said Josh as he took off towards a local park, David chasing close behind him.
This is part of a 30 day series of 2-3 minute short stories written for the 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, 2011. You can view all the stories in the Short Story A Day category.