up/down, in/out

We walked the full perimeter, looking for the best way in. We found it, then went for a walk and talked about it.

We agreed that we needed an exit plan. We agreed to stick together. We were nervous, and agreed to go get a drink first.

We returned just after midnight, nerves fueled by beer & pool. I went over the fence first - it had been way too long since I'd done that. The scaffolding behind provided a stiffness to the fence that I hadn't counted on. It was easier than I expected, but once I was in, my heart started to race. I helped her over the fence, and as we crept around the side of the building, I started to get excited about what lay ahead. The target was an active construction site.

Ninjalicious repeats the Sierra Club mantra: "Take only photographs, leave only footprints."

We entered the building on the first floor and quickly found the half-built staircase, and using my cell phone as a flashlight, we tiptoed up to the second floor. It was SO dark, and it looked unsafe. I needed more light to see where I was going, so we went up further to the third floor. They were just starting to build the roof/4th floor, and the moonlight was creeping in through the slats in the ceiling.

We tiptoed ever-so gently towards the edge. The site splayed out below us, and we finally had a view of the security booth that had us so on-edge. We watched the windows for a good five minutes, and decided that it was a front - there was nobody watching us. Carefully avoiding the gaping elevator shaft, we wandered around, looking at the work-in-progress, avoiding puddles which would track our movement for us.

There was still a floor to explore. We walked slowly and carefully though support beams holding up freshly-built staircases, down, down, down to the basement. The roof was lower near the entrance, but it was the most complete floor by far. Lights hung from the room in long strings, and the walls were beginning to take shape. We walked to the far end where tall walls (of what will likely be a loading dock) towered above us. We'd done it. We'd seen it all.

We hung out in the basement for a while longer before letting ourselves out, in the same way we came in. As we made our hasty exit, we looked at each other with mutual pride, and in ourselves...

I won't look at the building the same way again.