Elijah slowed to a walk as he reached Castle Apartments.  He had just finished a long run in the woods.  Elijah walked inside and began to climb the stairs.  He figured that he should take every opportunity to improve his physical fitness.  He believed that fitness was strongly linked to the change he yearned for.

New Beginings

Elijah stood atop castle apartments, the breeze pushing him towards the ground that lay far below.  He swiped the hair covering his eyes and gazed into the distance.  Today Elijah had visited the church, despite his Islamic heritage.  He listened to the pastor convene his message to his flock, describing the importance of being a rock.  Elijah knew that from now on in his life he would be the rock for others that he never had.   He visualized the passage in his head Psalm 17 The Lord is My Rock.  The words spoke to him in way he had never felt before.  They seemed to be calling him to some higher purpose unknown to him.  He repeated the passage, and promised himself that he would do whatever is necessary to fulfill the destiny his heart ached for.

The Calling

Elijah walked briskly through the subway.  The mall had experienced several robberies that day and neither he or his team was able to identify a culprit.  Elijah was tired of his workplace, he did not feel the same drive he used to.  Why should he devote his time to halt the schemes of petty thieves.  He should be using his talents in the broader world, tracking down dangerous criminals.  Ultimately Elijah decided that he needed a break from his life or at the very least a change.  Elijah thought to himself, "The world needs me but not at the mall."  The change reinvigorated him, filling him up with a renewed sense of purpose.  "Tomorrow" he exclaimed, "I will find my calling."

The Fall

The wind whipped past his face as he soared through the clouds. He streamed through the sky, pushing forward to his destination.  He didn't know what was calling him, but he felt a strong desire to find it soon.  Elijah glanced downwards and saw that he was passing over his hometown, as he glided over his apartments, a shudder ran through his body and he began to fall.  Elijah scrambled in the air for support, but he continued to pick up speed, crashing down towards his aprtment.  Elijah braced for impact and.....

Elijah jolted forward, he was breathing heavily and felt sweat running down his forehead.  He assed his surroundings, he was laying on his couch in his aprtment.  Memories of last night flooded into his head, a blur of places, people, and interactions that felt so fake.  His mind blended reality with the dream making the truth difficult for him to decifer.  Elijah cleared his mind, took a shower, dressed himself and proceeded downstairs.  The cool, still air sunk over him as he made his way towards Casa D' waffles.  Elijah took a seat at a booth with a newspaper and ordered several waffles and a coffee.  Elijah gazed outside watching people on thier way to thier own destinations.  A musician caught his eye playing guitar on the courner.  Most quickened thier pace past the man, but some slowed to enjoy the music that permeated thier daily routines.  Elijah turned back to his paper, reading the front cover, Crime Rates Rise while Police Funding Drops.  Elijah always wanted to be a police officer, but he never had the fincial success to enter the acdemy.  Elijah closed he paper as his food arrived clearing his old dreams from his mind. 

All that Live Must Die

Elijah stumbled home, while his head buzzed under the effect of several drinks.  Elijah struggled to keep himself up as the dizziness of walking set in, while simultaneously attempting to clear his head of thoughts about the past.  Elijah fell into his apartment, where his memories set upon like ravaging storm.  Elijah was back in his old home in Lanesport with his mother and father.  Elijah knew that tonight, his parents would die, but no matter how he yelled his parents were oblivious of the danger that quickly approached them.  He then  looked towards his younger self, full of innocence unaware of the fate that he would be left with after tonight.  Then suddenly a knock came at the door, Elijah watched in horror as his father, an imam at the local mosque, opened the door and two men forced him out of the way, throwing him to the ground.  Elijah watched his mother push him under the couch quickly, flashing one last smile before she was ripped away from him and thrown next to his father.  Then two shots rang put, jarring Elijah from his painful past.  Elijah quickly sat up and wiped the sweat from his face.  Elijah pulled himself to his bed to lay down, but his memory kept replaying in his head. Elijah stared at the fan spinning above him, and he began to slowly fade away, while his mother's face stayed ever clear in his mind.

Mugging on the Court

Elijah headed towards Ol' Johhny's gas station to pick up some gum.  He walked towards Johhny's, and noticed a man walking towards the basketball court, Elijah noticed that every once and while, some guys would get together to play pick up on the basketball court.  After stopping to get some gum, Elijah decided that he would stop by and see if he could join the game.  Elijah headed towards the basketball court and nearly ran into the man he saw earlier, Elijah greeted him, but the man just grunted and walked away briskly.  As Elijah reached the basketball court he saw a woman lying on the court obviously in pain.  Elijah sprinted towards the woman and kneeled beside her.  The woman as blinded by her pain and resisted his attempts to help her up.  She was bleeding through her clothes, and her face was disfigured by blows.  As Elijah stood to contact the authorities, several men shouted "get him" and began to run towards him.  Elijah was outnumbered and the woman could not give him solace because she did not know who had attacked her.  Elijah whipped around and began to sprint back towards his house.  Turning his head round he saw that a few men were still chasing him, he dashed into the parking deck beside Castle Apartments, and quickly chose a group of cars to hide next to.  After catching his breath, Elijah collected his thoughts and cleaned the blood from his shirt and hands.  Elijah walked briskly to his door, where he reminisced about his terrible luck.

Its Christmas Time Again

Elijah did not particularly like Christmas.  That is not to say that he was a scrooge, but after a certain amount of time working at the mall, his Christmas cheer began to decline rapidly.  At the mall Christmas carried special significance, and the season began in late November and carried on throughout December into January.  Elijah felt that the best part of Christmas was the time off, although security had to be raised during the holiday months, as head of security, Elijah had privileges over the other security guards and was given far more time off during Christmas time. Elijah decided that he would begin his day visting, Casa de Waffles and ordering their Christmas brunch, that consisted of several seasonal breakfast items.  As Elijah emerged from Castle Apartments, he stopped to appreciate the beautiful winter morning, snow covered the streets and people were out everywhere enjoying the holiday season.  Then as Elijah turned to his destination a plaster Santa Claus crashed in front of him breaking into large solid chunks.  Elijah backed off, with the realisation that had he been a couple of steps in front of him, Santa would have exploded on his head.  Elijah looked up, but whoever or whatever had caused the suicidal Santa Claus did not reveal themselves.  Elijah took a couple cautious steps forward, then picked up his pace quickly as he dodged the pieces of Santa and proceeded to his breakfast.  Elijah trudged to the snow, thanking his luck that Christmas had not killed him.

Stormy Night

Elijah emerged from the underground tunnel to a whirlwind of wind and rain.  Elijah pulled his coat tight and set off into the cold, stormy night.  The wind whipped the rain in front of him blurring his vision, but he pressed on as lighting streaked across the sky in front of him.  Elijah had a long day of work today, several people were involved in a shoplifting heist, that would have succeeded without his clever observations. After acquiring all the members of the shoplifting gang, Elijah had to fill out paperwork on each of them for his security company, Allied Security.  Elijah picked up his pace, he was tired from his day at work, but hunger drove him forward through the storm towards his house.  Elijah watched as other people scurried around in the storm looking for some cover, from this brutal hurricane.  As Elijah neared his apartment he contemplated the seriousness of the storm, Elijah was born in Afganistan, but immigrated to America when he was young.  ELijah was not used to severe weather, and as the thunder crashed around him, he could not hide the fear welling up inside of him.  With a final burst of energy, he splashed into Castle Apartments comforted by the familiar smells and sounds of his home.  ELijah headed to his apartment, praying that the storm would pass soon.