Her sweater wafted in the breeze of the crisp clean fall air. Her hair was blown roughly over her bare shoulders, freeing her face of her almost constant protection, forcing her to pay attention to what was in front of her. Quickly, she closed her eyes to block it out, focusing on the warmth spreading around her. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and in her attempt to calm down she clenched her fist over and over again. Braving the harsh ragged breaths that still wracked her body, she blinked open her eyes in the bright sunlight. Branching out in front of her were the hectic stressful streets of New York City. She could see the pollution and smog filling the air and the constant clamour and rattle of the city flooded her ears.  She forced her eyes downward, grazing over the dozens of people that huddled around her building like children around an open fire on a cold winter's day, their hope for warmth wavering at each gust of wind. Her six story tall stone apartment building stood out like unwanted grass forcing it’s way out through the concrete.
 

The girl stood on the roof of her building, the smooth stone beneath her feet holding an odd comfort, an odd reassurance. The sensation brought her back to the days of happiness and innocence, but in the back of her mind she knew that her building held a far darker past. Two floors below the building wrapped around her room, the concrete walls holding in secrets of the year before. The same concrete walls that made sure no one could hear her as she cried for help when he found his way into her room. A single cold tear streamed down her face, leaving a trail in its wake as his voice whispered in her ear for the millionth time that year. The girl was pulled out of her memories by the beeping of horns and the shouting surrounding the streets below. Voices blurred into the noise of the city, but one stood out clearly.

“Daisy? Daisy are you listening?” It cried out hundreds of feet below. “Daisy please, stay calm, I just want to talk.” Her lips parted to respond but her mind betrayed her, refusing to let the words escape the prison of her mind. They had been locked up for so long, what was just a few moments longer? Hands and clothes glinted in her mind against the sunlight, spotted rays covering the permanent crimson blood stain on her concrete floor.  Feet gripping the edge of the stone building she let the sensation of warmth overtake her.

His body stood over her, the limp almost lifeless form she had become discarded into a pile on the floor. The sun washed over her, and he finally left. He no longer stood before her threatening to end her life, light enveloped  her and all of her memories, shutting her mind down. The last noise left in the crowd below finally faded to nonexistence and she let out a big sigh. The warm bundle pressed against her chest caused her to open her eyes and look down one more time.

“No more, you never have to know what happened” she whispered with sad eyes towards the wiggling baby cooing in her arms. The girl teetered on the edge once more, her bare toes wrapped over the corner of the building. She closed her eyes, pressing one last kiss on her baby’s head, never looking away from the innocent corruptible bundle of joy. She relaxed and her body teetered over the edge before she slammed her heels into the rough surface of her building and jumped. She jumped off the building with no reservations or regrets, she was finally happy, she finally had a choice. The sun's rays hitting her face, wind flying through her hair and her baby clutched in her arms. She was finally free. 

Her sweater billowed behind her and her body plummeted hundreds of feet towards the hard concrete ground of the unforgiving city. Her thin arms wrapped around the baby in the shawl on her chest, protecting it even in its last moments. She smiled as she flew past the window of her apartment, and as she neared the ground, as she neared her escape. Her descent felt inevitable and the fire finally blew out as the last gust of wind released her from her concrete prison.

The crowd rushed forward, horror plastered over their faces, stuck on like a mask. Her body lay still, shattered and broken. Red seeped out of the cracks, surrounding her in nature's metaphorical caution tape. Her empty eyes lay open as if waiting to be jerked out of a daydream. The small body in her arms lay still, its eyes scrunched shut. Its pudgy arms clinging onto its mother's sweater. The girl's sister stepped forward, choked sobs forcing their way out of her pursed lips. She stretched out a hand, brushing it down the pale baby’s arm, worry edged its way onto the lines in her face and she stumbled backwards into the support of the crowd. The women turned around, beginning to speak the words she had hoped would only exist in her nightmares.

“They are both…” she began but she was cut off by a noise that pierced all of their ears, causing her to spin around, her wide eyes focusing on the source. The baby had begun to cry.