Season 03 - Episode 07

‘he tries so’

Steps. Steps. Steps.

Ty is climbing solid, sharp-edged steps, a bare wall to his left, a metal hand rail to his right. He climbs thirteen steps to reach a small landing, then turns and turns and sets off up the next flight, round and around, up and up.

He's been doing this for weeks now and is deeply, deeply afraid. The ladder he climbed had seemed to go on forever but as he climbs now, step after step, he realises that he had no idea then what forever feels like.

It feels like this.

It took hours to climb the ladder and several times along the way he honestly thought he would fall, his arms and legs were so tired. When he finally reached the top and found a hatch through which to climb, he cried with fatigue and relief.

The hatch brought him into the bottom of this stairwell. At first he laid on the cold, hard floor and loved it dearly for holding him up without asking anything in return. He slept for hours, then woke sore and set off climbing.

Many of the landings he reaches every thirteen steps have doors, but every one is sealed with steel shutters, trapping him inside, driving him up. When he grows tired, he sleeps on the landings.

One time, he had shifted in his sleep, rolling close to the top of the steps and almost tumbling over. Something had woken him just in time however, a sharp little sting on his arm. He had no idea what had stung him but from then on he slept well away from the edge.

His plan, such as it is, is still to surrender himself to the first adult he finds and beg them to help him get home. As the days drag on though, still the steps go up, still every door is shuttered and creeping dread has blossomed into panic.

His first fear had been that he would starve. Then, one day, while resting on yet another identical landing, he looked up through the narrow oblong bounded by handrails that rose between the flights of stairs. His heart sank, seeing the steps apparently go on forever.

Then he noticed the weird little mushrooms, growing on the underside of the steps above. By climbing on the handrail and reaching dangerously, he was able to scrape a handful out of the shadows. The mushrooms were pale, almost white but with a weird blue tinge. They were slimy and wet but actually tasted ok and he has grown used to the texture.

His next fear has not been so easy to quell and pursues him even now.

He has been trying to remember everything he knows about The Levels, looking for anything that might help him. He's old enough to know that The Levels were built by God and go on forever. He can't remember when he learned this, but he knows that things like The Outerside and The Roove are just bedtime stories for babies like his brother, Ky.

Thinking of Ky makes him think of Mum and of Dad and wonder if they're ok, if he will ever see them again. This makes him too sad though so he stops thinking about them and thinks about The Levels again instead.

If The Levels go on forever then technically the steps could go on forever too. That doesn't seem likely though. Another thing he knows about The Levels is that they are endlessly varied. Different building materials and styles, floors at different levels, everything changes eventually, the steps will too, he is sure.

The thing that really scares him is the realisation that, just because The Levels go on forever, that doesn't mean the people do. What if there's no-one above him? What if he climbs for the rest of his life and never encounters another person? No-one to save him, no-one to help him get home.

He has never felt so alone or frightened in all his life and he doesn't know what to do. Sometimes he feels so sad and tired that he spends days just sitting on the same landing, refusing to climb any further, doing nothing at all.

Sometimes he thinks about going all the way back down but the thought of descending the ladder frightens him even more. He's certain he will fall if he tries. So in the end, every time he stops, he eventually starts again, climbing the steps, the solid, sharp-edged, steps.

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