Chapter 2 ended with Lina getting in trouble for being on the roof. The mayor of the city scolded her for being too curious.
Was there ever a time in your life that you got in trouble for being too curious? Explain:(Think about how it felt, describe what you were doing, introduce the right characters)
Curiosity is my Achilles heel. While it has opened up new worlds previously uncharted and unexplored, it has also earned me contempt and scorn from the "less curious." You could tell I was curious from a young age. I was that kid in the corner trying to break the Guinness Record for "longest headstand." Imaginative and analytical I took nothing at face value. Tell me something couldn't be done, and I would soon find a way to do it. A true rebel at heart, I viewed rules as limiting people to the ordinary and generic. That is why when Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (the college I attended) had a strict policy against scaling their major relics, I was the first to break it...
California Polytechnic University (the college I attended) had some of the greatest architectural feats of the time. Combining modern physics, mathematics and engineering, they created a Performing Arts Center that attracted some of the biggest names of the new millennium. Carrot Top, Smashing Pumpkins, and Cirque Solet were a few of the many performers. As a "starving student" there was no way I could afford to see these great venues. Rules would tell me that this fact alone should prevent me from attending. However, if you are stubborn, imaginative and abundantly curious, there was always a way in. It just might not be through the front door...
You see, my friends and I had been scoping out this building for several weeks prior to the show. We knew every nook, cranny and nuance. We also knew there was a door on the third story. A door we concluded may be unlocked. Getting to this door would be our grand adventure.
The West side of the building housed all the electrical components. Gated and secured it could have very easily been the cage for the T Rex in Jurassic Park. There was one engineering mishap however. Though the door was locked on the outside, the adjacent handle inside was always unlocked. Think of the swimming pool inside of an apartment complex. If you could manage to reach your hand through the bars, you could be swimming the 200M in a heart beat.
This seems an appropriate time as any to introduce my partners in crime. Their names were Beau and Aaron. We were probably the only three students in the entire University that night not attending some House Party or Fraternity event. As the oldest, most experienced dare- devil, I was the mission leader; Beau, being the thinnest and most flexible of our outfit, was the operations specialist; Aaron, boasting a degree in philosophy and a brilliant mind, was of course the logistics coordinator.
Beau's first mission was to wedge his hand between the bars and unlock the gated door. He was successful on his first attempt! We were in!...to the first compartment. Wedging our way through boxed electrical and oddly shaped ventilation we made it to our first roof.
This roof was about 30 feet lower in elevation than our destination (the 3rd story door). To get to the door, one had to find a way around the entire building- which looked like a massive spiraling staircase. We first scaled the wall on the East end of the roof and found ourselves on the backside of the Center facing traffic. This was the MOST precarious part of the operation. Visible to onlookers and passerbys you had to time your move precisely to avoid getting caught. We took advantage of our 30 second window between sprouts of traffic. Moving like spiders we crawled our way to the most precarious spot of all- the East Side.
East sides can be dangerous places in general. When entering new cities people sometimes warn of the "East side." This is oftentimes a euphemism for "TROUBLE!" "Trouble" in this case came in the form of a 40 foot dormitory within earshot. This was where luck came into play. We had to hope that for the next 20 seconds, all students inside the dorm were busy and unaware.
We raced across the East side and held our breath. No shouts, screams or finger pointing. Only the sound of our racing heartbeats and shortness in breath. We had made it... so far. We still had to find our way back to the West Side in order to reach the third story door.
The South Side contained the towering roof. Imagine a 45 degree incline into oblivion. That's what it felt like. Hoisting ourselves up onto the lower area we were forced to crouch down as this area was extremely well lit. We were like soldiers on our way to the combat zone- hoping to catch our enemy by surprise. Our enemy was now only a slide away. We added the "slide" in for entertainment. From the top of the roof, you felt as if you were looking down the gut of the "Abyss" at Wild Rivers! Each "slide" manifested itself in the form of crevices 2 feet wide- just enough space to wedge yourself between. Drying from the rain it experienced earlier in the day, the slide was just slick enough to increase our speed, yet dry enough to prevent major injury. It was the ultimate slip and slide! Except this was no game. If you weren't careful, the end of your slip and slide was a forty foot drop to most certain death. Racing down the roof we were taking no chances. We slowed with plenty of room to spare and descended the last part on foot.
From the bottom of the Southwest side of the roof, we stared down to the third story balcony. We had arrived on the West side! The drop was not too extreme. You had merely to dangle from the overhang and drop 8 feet onto the balcony floor. I was first to go. Landing firmly and unscathed I now stared through the third story door. I held my breath. If the door was locked, there was NO way back. I had scaled Mount Everest and was hoping desperately not to have to call in the chopper. Gripping the handle on the doorway I pulled down. The lock on the other side was free. And now so was I! I could barely contain my excitement. Had it not been for the late hour, rebellious activity and most certain consequences had we been caught, I would have let out a scream right there. Instead I waved to my anxious team to indicate my success. Dropping down one at a time they met me at the door.
Beau and I both turned to our logistics coordinator for the next move. Calm and collected he informed us that we would be journeying to the "secret spot." This spot was normally manned by personnel with keys and identification badges. We were unauthorized personnel. Had we been caught it meant certain expulsion from the school and probably a night in the county jail.
Of course that thought wasn't running through our minds at the time. We meant no harm. We were just curious kids with vivid imaginations.
Making our way down the upstairs hallway we entered the auditorium through massive double doors. This site alone was breathtaking. I imagined watching Carrot Top pull one of his crazy inventions out of his black box on stage. Or better yet, trapeze artists traversing across the theatre in Cirque Solet.
Beau awoke me from my trance with a smack on the back of my head. "C'mon Kyle, we've got to get moving." Aaron led us to the "secret entrance" to the "secret spot." This entrance was positioned inside a corridor separating the auditorium from the outer hallway. This was Door #2. The chances that Door #1 would be open were slim to none. The chances that "Secret Door #2" would be open as well were about as good as finding a needle in a haystack. To my astonishment however, it was not only unlocked, but easy to push through. I envisioned an alarm sounding and cop cars arriving shortly thereafter. But there was no alarm, only the sound of the AC blasting through the area.
Our first task was to scale the ladder. This ladder led to the circular platform from which the lighting was controlled. A platform that could transform even the most ordinary of people into great Emperors of Rome. You felt like the the master pup peter in the World's Greatest puppet show. Power and admiration is often short lived however. After basking in our greatness for a mere 20 seconds we turned to our left to find a black hole of darkness. Our abundant pride turned into overwhelming fear. Beau and Aaron wanted to turn back. They insisted that we were now in over our heads. I countered by insisting that this was only the tip of the iceberg. Every new discovery was better than the last, this "black hole" must have some eternal rewards.
As we entered the dark abyss I reached my hands out in front of me in desparate search for a light switch. That's when something took hold of my hand. I whirled around to find Beau in cold sweats. His arm clasped tightly to mine. "I can't do this," he insisted.
"We have to!" I retorted back. "Everything will be fine."
A low humming sound reverberated through the darkness. Was it snoring? Was it the sound of the generator creating the minimal light that passed through the rafters? Or was it the security system sending a signal to the nearby police force on Grand Ave.?
Whatever it was, it was only adding to our sense of panic and desparation. Stubbornly I kept moving forward. Beau and Aaron were no longer clasped on behind. Instead, they retreated to the lit area and insisted that I explore the unknown area alone. I obliged. Fumbling through the dark I now stood only feet away from the figure I first saw. Coming in close proximity to the figure only added to my stress. It looked just as real as it did from the entrance to the "black hole." To make matters worse, the only light switch was located directly above it's head!! It was too risky. While I now had serious doubts as to whether this was an actual person, I wasn't taking any chances. Instead, I continued on past the figure to the West Side of the platform.
Imagine if you will a giant tunnel with immense light on both sides. It was as if I was emerging from that tunnel into broad daylight. However, this particular tunnel was transparant from both sides. It afforded me the opportunity to wave to Beau and Aaron signaling my success.
Reluctantly they made their way through the "black hole tunnel" and joined me on the other side. From here we felt secure- able to take far more risks. Beau planned our next death defying stunt. From our vantage point we saw massive curtains draping down from the "secret spot" to the stage. Behind the curtains was an elaborate maintenance system, controlled from various spots in the rafters. From here, Beau planned our descent. We would scale down the myriad of metal to back stage.
I will spare you the details of our descent and our dealings back stage. Instead I will pick up where the actual suspense left off. What happened next was by far the scariest, most death- defying moment of our grand adventure.
Nonchalantly we exited back stage into the 1st floor hallway as if we had not a care in the world. This was our first MAJOR mistake. Because as we entered the hallway we heard a high pitched bark. The dog was small enough. In normal circumstances one would most likely laugh at such unsuccessful antics. However, in this case a bark meant accompaniment by something far scarier- a window washer. The window washer was oblivious to his companion's plea. Thank God for walkmens. He was probably lost in Mr. Clean's window washing workout. His dog would not stop barking! Frozen in the hallway we faced a conundrum. Had we gone back the way we came the dog might very well follow us and blow our cover. Had we made a run for the door, the window washer would certainly notice and call the police. Thinking fast, I grabbed Beau and Aaron and found cover in a nearby crevice. That's when the window washer turned. His dog was persistent. Perhaps the dog only heard us. Because had he seen us he would most certainly be over tugging on our clothes.
Removing the headphones from his ears, the window washer reached down to pet his dog. "What is it buddy?" The dog would not stop barking. Had the dog been a more affective communicator we would be spending our last days in San Luis Obispo behind bars. As it was, the dog was just alarmed. We all prayed silent prayers. God turned out to be the bold daredevil we all dreamed him up to be, because our prayers were soon answered. The window washer turned back to the windows, put on his headphones, and continued where he left off.
It was now time to exit the building. Clearly we could not walk out the front door, as the window washer had that route covered. Instead, we elected to exit back stage. Exploring the rest of the building would happen another day. Silently we found our way to the backstage door.
Freedom was supposed to greet us with a barely illuminated sky from the moon above, not bright lights coming from all directions...
(If you have read this far I applaud your diligence and dedication to my story. I also apologize for my numerous "false alarms." My story had more smoke screens then it did legitimate climaxes. However, this has kept your interest yes? At this point I will finish. No more fakies.)
The bright lights greeted us from the North, South and West. Shining at 45 degree angles from each adjacent building, they guided us home. Back home we reminisced about our experience. Several close encounters, unexpected turns, and the prize we first set out to obtain. We had reached the "secret spot." Unscathed and energetic, it was just a matter of time until we would witness a show from our newfound seats. They were the best seats in the house, and to think, they came free of charge.
