The Fall  

Kaiden, who couldn't believe this was happening, said softly with tear-filled eyes,

"Hey, you're not really gone, are you?"

He reached out his arms towards his deceased friend and shook his shoulders.

"Hey, please get back up.

I said, please get back up! Please! Why, just why?" Kaiden screamed towards the sky, as raindrops and tears soaked his face.

As his eyes cleared through the rain and tears were washed away, he remembered that it wasn't over yet.

****

The rain had subsided, and he could now see his surroundings more clearly. He heard and saw other people, but he had to think of himself first.

He wondered, which direction was the tsunami coming from again? He looked right, then left, and then behind him. His heart seemed to stop, and Kaiden froze.

He couldn't comprehend how this could be.

"This doesn't make sense!" he whispered in fear. The tsunami wasn't 100 meters high, not even 150 meters, but just over 200 meters.

Yet Kaiden tried to look ahead. Despite his trembling legs and heavy breath, he tried to analyze his surroundings. He realized that the tsunami must be about a kilometer away.

Moving at a speed of about 40 km/h towards the skyscraper, he only had about a minute until it would engulf the nearly 300-meter high building.

The terrible realization was that suddenly the tsunami had doubled in height. If it had been only 100 meters high, the sturdier lower part of the skyscraper might have had a chance.

But now, the immense flood would make up about two-thirds of the skyscraper, and it would surely sweep away the unstable upper part as if it were made of toy bricks.

Kaiden's chances of survival plummeted from about 50% to certain death.

As he carried these thoughts with him, he desperately tried to find a specific location at the edge.

If he could find it, he might increase his chances of survival by a few percentage points and retain a glimmer of hope.

Although his legs were on the verge of giving out, they kept moving. In this situation, they couldn't give up.

Kaiden's heartbeat accelerated dramatically, and he ran desperately after the last glimmer of light.

"It must be here somewhere, I know it, but where?" he thought.

Almost 40 seconds had passed, and instead of the light rain and hissing wind, he heard an approaching flood.

But Kaiden didn't let it distract him. He kept running with heavy breaths. The seconds passed, and death seemed to be lurking at his heels once again.

He ran and ran, but the saving place seemed nowhere in sight. However, he didn't give up; he continued along the seemingly endless precipice.

Suddenly, he heard a loud bang, resembling a grenade, and it seemed like more rain was pelting down on him from above.

But it wasn't rain; it was the salty seawater being flung upwards from the impact with the skyscraper.

Kaiden wondered if the skyscraper could withstand the impact. But appearances can be deceiving. Within a second, it seemed the upper part was tearing away from the lower, and the ground shifted from horizontal to vertical.

Kaiden was shocked. His heart seemed to stop, and he stood there paralyzed.

But when a small part of the icy water lightly splashed over him, he snapped out of it as if waking from a nightmare.

Without hesitation, Kaiden reached for the bar at the edge and pulled himself up.

The upper part of the skyscraper threatened to collapse, but Kaiden didn't hesitate for a moment and simply jumped from the highest point into the abyss.

As he flew through the air, his eyes widened in relief and hope. Not just because of the strong wind and resistance pressing his eyelids up, but because he finally saw the place he needed to survive:

the park.

All he had to do now was steer in that direction and let the trees slow him down. Kaiden, suddenly filled with hope, closed his arms and legs as close to his body as possible.

Although it was difficult to move his right arm, he tried to shift his weight to the right, where the bright green trees awaited him.

As expected, he was slowing down more than planned in his desired direction, but it seemed to be enough.

Time seemed to stand still once again. Whether this was a good omen for Kaiden, he didn't know, but he was determined to survive at all costs.

The sudden wind from the previous storm painfully reminded Kaiden of his cold, drenched clothes. But that was his least concern now. The wind pushed against his direction, slowing him down further.

He knew he had to spread out now, or he would be heading towards the ground too fast, and the trees wouldn't be able to help him anymore.

Kaiden spread his arms and legs like a beetle lying on its back, and it seemed he was losing speed rapidly.

An extreme resistance almost caused a coughing fit, but he couldn't let himself be distracted in this crucial moment. Only a few dozen meters separated him from the surface.

He fell and fell, but suddenly he received another drastic push towards the trees, almost too much.

It seemed like he was about to miss his target. Fortunately, everything was just right now. The partially uprooted trees formed a perfect cushion, and spreading his arms and legs proved to be extremely useful.

He was still falling rapidly towards the ground, but it felt like he was floating in slow motion.

Now it was time to prepare for the impending landing. Kaiden changed his position from horizontal to offer more resistance to the wind, to a vertical position.

He stretched his legs out straight to absorb most of the impact resistance.

He just had to make sure to protect his head and neck with his arms. He reached with his left arm at a 45-degree angle around the left side of his head, but his right hand wouldn't budge an inch.

Finally, he tried to at least bend his left elbow inward to find a secure grip. Kaiden then shifted his weight slightly to the left, and his left palm now protected the back of his head completely.

The impact seemed imminent, and Kaiden took one last deep breath.

Then Kaiden's feet greeted the light green spring leaves of the tree, followed by the slightly thinner and more slender burnt sienna colored branches.

In fractions of a second, cuts followed cuts that extended across Kaiden's entire body. It felt like he was running through a field of long blades, but then came the larger branches.

These cuts were no longer results of kitchen knives, but of real saw blades. The pain was unimaginable, but it paid off.

There were only a dozen meters left to the ground, and his speed slowed considerably.

He fell and fell, but now the 30 to 50 centimeter wide branches of the tree trunk followed. Kaiden knew this would require pain and sacrifice, but reality surpassed his worst nightmares.

The impact of his legs on these branches felt like thousands of blows, each one enough to cause multiple fractures.

Kaiden was tossed around like a puppet by a playful toddler, first against his legs, then against his back, and finally against his chest.

His speed slowed down extremely, and it felt like he was weightless compared to before.

But appearances can be deceiving. The last meters were covered in an instant, and he landed on the ground.

But why was it so cold?

"Am I bleeding?

What's all this commotion and pain for?" he wondered.

But then he realized it was cold, icy seawater. His eyes began to burn, and he longed for air. His chest and lungs had been through a lot, but to his regret, he only had one functioning arm.

The rest of his body seemed completely broken or numb.

Kaiden frantically waved his left hand to reach for fresh air, but it seemed hopeless.

Instead of rising, he sank lower. The urge for air became stronger and he couldn't bear it much longer. His mouth almost responded automatically, even though Kaiden resisted internally.

His lungs, craving oxygen, were served salty water instead.

The seawater spread throughout his lung within seconds. It was a piercing, tearing feeling, and Kaiden was on the verge of letting out his loudest scream.

But suddenly, there was silence.

A relieving sensation spread through his chest shortly after. What followed was a seemingly lifeless body in a solitary, dark pool of salted water.

Death stretched his elongated scythe and drew the helpless soul with him.

****