After
For Miranda Kate's Flash Fiction Challenge: Week 58 After “It's not much, is it?” All that stood in front of me was a vast expanse of white. The man who seemed to be waiting for me at the top said nothing. “So do you look this way for everybody, or just me?” He glanced at his black suit, the withered, red carnation pinned to its lapel, the thin outlines of ribs pressing against the fabric of his shirt, anchored by the breeze. His expression was quizzical, like he didn't see what I saw. “I neither know nor care, sir.” I glanced down. The ladder still dangled below, perfectly still even as the stratospheric winds whipped against it. “Lucky I was a jumper, huh?” The man said nothing. His hands remained firmly clasped behind his back. “So that, you know, the height...wouldn't...” He just stared. “Everyone has to climb.” “So everyone ascends, huh?” “