Going Back For Him

Kestrel didn't know for how long she'd been dropping, but the sense of having no weight was powerful. She remembered Ren's advice, pushing her hands and feet against the pipe's inner walls, doing her best to create friction and slow down her fall.

After some time, the soles of her shoes started to get hot. Kestrel was scared they might burst into flames. Luckily, she was wearing high-quality gloves. Even though the friction made her palms hurt, the gloves didn't tear until she was out of the pipe.

Kestrel landed on a patch of tall grass, causing a cloud of bugs to scatter into the night.

From afar, she could hear frogs croaking, and close by, nighttime bugs were buzzing. Some bags of garbage, big and small, were lying nearby.

Kestrel felt the grass under her, it was soft, fresh leaves, no longer the bright emerald green from before.

She had done it, she had gotten away from the creepy, chilly palace.