“You know somethin’?” Nathan asked Fred, playing with the cigarette between his fingers. “I wish things were more like these.”

He held the cigarette up closer to Fred’s face, so he could really see it. 

“What do you mean?” Fred flinched away from the amber, glowing end. 

“Like cigarettes. You know exactly when they’re going to end, so you don’t expect anything more,” Nathan told him.

He raised the cigarette back up to his lips. 

“That’s pretty dark, dude,” Fred said. 

“Look where we are, man,” Nathan said, mocking him. He gave a short, half-laugh before inhaling a final breath of smoke.

He flicked the cigarette butt towards the brick wall, watching as it didn't make it over.

The brick walls were too high for Nathan to see over, let alone try to climb. They wrapped around the wide garden. 

A large oak tree sat right in the middle of the garden. Different flowers filled the yard. All their colors were an attempt to bring some life into the dreariness, the gray world here. 

Behind it all sat the hospital, covered in chipped white paint. A low flight of stairs led up to a pair of locked, steel doors. 

The rain began to pour. The gray sky opened wide. 

An orderly pushed his way through the double doors. He called to both men. They were squeezed beside one another in the rain. 

“It’s pouring out here! You two have got to come inside,” the orderly shouted. 

The ground beneath Nathan’s feet was bumpy. It was supposed to make it less slippery when it was wet—perfect for days like this. The thin hospital slippers he wore soaked up the rain on the ground. 

Water pooled at the foot of the stairs, where the orderly was waiting for his patients. Nathan and Fred weren't excited to go back in. The orderly's hands rested impatiently on his hips. 

Fred walked over to the landing. The metal stairs had sharp gaps and ridges in them. The gaps and ridges were to prevent slipping, just like the bumpy ground. 

Nathan peered up at the sky. For a moment, he lost himself in the branches of the old oak tree. He noticed that the leaves looked like the tree was sick. They were an unhealthy brown color, even though it was the middle of spring. 

It figures, he thought.  

“Come on, Nathan,” the orderly yelled. He made a tapping motion at his wrist, as if to indicate an invisible watch. 

Nathan turned his head to glare at him. He glanced at the brick wall. The idea of escape built up, but it quickly collapsed. It was too heavy a thought.

He followed Fred and the orderly up the stairs, back inside the hospital.