Phobia Drabble Prompts ; status: [ ✔ ]
Arsonphobia: Our muses are trapped in a burning building.
Despite owning an apartment, Jay had a habit of often spendingtime away from his belongings. One of the spots he really liked was a rooftopof an abandoned tower block near Seocho-Gu. It wasn’t an ordinary thing towitness in this area of Seoul, its promixity to Gangnam and centre of Seoul ingeneral, forcing the local government to make sure no building is left to rot.After all, it would contribute to a much worse urban landscape of the city. Nevertheless,it’s been many years already since the building was empty and it remained anattractive spot for Jay. The reason? First of all the sight, a stunning Seoulskyline spread in front of your eyes. Secondly, the sense of peace he feltwhenever he was sitting on the railing, his mind relaxed, all nerves calmingimmediately. Maybe it was the faintest breeze on his cheeks of the sight itselfadding to the feeling but Jay liked to think it was the sense of freedom in thepurest form.
It comes as a surprise to him however not to be alone thistime, someone occupying his usual spot near the cornice of the building. Slowsteps are taken towards the stranger, a seat taken over the opposite side ofthe rooftop. He doesn’t say a word, merely eyeing the male out of the corner ofhis eye as he snatches a single cigarette from his pack but before he manages tolight it up, a suspicious scent of smoke filling his nostrils. With furrowedeyebrows, Jay approaches the young male, facing them. „—It’s not you, right?”No cigarettes come into sight and this has Jay alert. He doesn’t have to gofar, barely peeking inside the building again to realize what was his initialassumption. He wished he wasn’t right this time.
It’s not the first time, Jay knows, the kids burning theside of the building many Times before, firefighters coming on time to preventthe fire from spreading but this time, it’s spreading fast, too fast for Jay tothink of a plan straight away. The stranger realizes quickly as well what wasgoing on. Jay’s the one to know the area better, having inspected every singlecorner, every floor in the past. „No—not this way.” He’s quick to grasp thestranger’s hand, groaning silently. Every door marked with exit was closed. He hadit checked before hand. There were few other ways to sneak out, the only problembeing the fire itself. It was getting out of hand and Jay had no other choicebut to drag the male to the back of the building. There was no way to godownstairs, the fire occupying the ground floor along with the first floor andtherefore the window was the only option. The one of few windows on theopposite side of the building in particular intrested the male. He crawls upthe window sill, biting down on his lower lip as he eyes his desperate solutionfrom this situation – a big trashcontainer. They were on the second, maybe third floor by now and Jay isn’tsure about the soft landing granted by the trash. Honestly, he can never knowswhat’s inside the bags but was there another way? Not really. „—If you have abetter idea, bring it on, man.” Jay rubs on his temple, aware of how crazy thisidea was but there wasn’t much choice left and he was already coughing upon thesmoke spreading all over the room.