Descent and Ascent

On an as is where is basis, we fell— down the elevator shaft of the day, into the buzz of a fluorescent hum, the smell of reheated takeout in cracked Styrofoam trays. The descent began when the train doors jammed, and I was stuck staring at my own reflection— the stale grime of the carriage, the paper ads, my face mirrored against the strangers, expressionless. I finally made it home, my shoes untied, the hallway dim, someone’s dog barking through thin walls. The key caught in the lock, metal snagged on silence— inside, a burnt-out bulb flickered above the sink. Bills were piled high, half-shoved in a drawer, an eviction notice crumpled at the edges, yesterday's dishes stacked like monuments of failure, and in the fridge—two eggs, a leftover apology. Then I saw it: a post-it, bright yellow, crookedly taped above the empty fruit bowl. A scribbled heart, in a child’s writing, "You're the best," the 's' in 'best' drawn backward, rushed— a small love, pressed into a square of paper. That night, I folded laundry in silence, shirt by shirt, sock by unmatched sock, finding something steady in the rhythm— the sound of breathing is as good as sleep when sleep is nowhere near. I climbed into that feeling, inch by inch, with each minute stretched, each dollar exchanged for time, each deep breath drawn. The city buzzed outside, the cars skating down wet streets, but here, it was the small clicks of our life— turning off the TV, the snap of clean sheets, the drip of the bathroom faucet needing fixing. I knew it was enough—this climb, this small scaffold we built to hold us up. Now I stand, the city alive beneath my window, swapping scar tissue out for the heat of the moment, for the feat of staying—my laughter penetrating the cracks in the walls—a song that makes each broken piece of the ascent worth saving.