Ladder , Part 2

1 ladder. 4 stories. 58 rungs. 30 seconds to climb, he reckoned. 1 80 pound lab rod our eyes him with suspicion as he eyed the ladder, surely wondering why the fourth walk of the day had come to a pause; why at 13 minutes to 12 am, they have found themselves looking at ladder; a ladder of all things. I am 48!years old, he said, neither as a question nor as a statement, more an issuance of fact if one did have to describe it. 4278 that what it said beside the front door of the townhouse. 5 levels inside. 6 flights of stairs. Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. Two car parking pad. Room for a third in the garage. He never seen the woman who lived there, her name was Elena, she was 62 years old. He had never seen the man either, George Frank, Elena’s brother, he was 68. They had lived together for 33 years. If he climbed the ladder, hoisted his 270 pound frame, off the ladder and onto the flat roof, At the top he reckoned he would have a 180 degree view of the neighborhood. He reckoned he would stand tall, fill his lungs with three breaths of cold night air, coughing as it scratched its way down his trachea.