Summary: Jim is 14 years old now, and at the prime of his troubles. He's fallen back with a bad group of kids and traveled down the wrong path, ever since his father left him. It just keeps getting worse until one night Jim and his friends decide to kick around an old mining site; by mistake they go too far and the place starts coming down - unfortunately, on one of the guards patrolling the site. Jim goes back for the guard, abandoned by his gang. At the last moment he gets cold feet and runs away from the surely doomed man - right into the hands of the cops. Now Jim is facing charges of trespassing, vandalism - even murder - in the county jail, and as he passes the time he starts to think back on how he got to this point...

I remember the way the stars shone that night between the clouds. I remember how they shone white on the back of my hand, clutching the rail with all the strength I had. I remember how the beams sparkled in his eyes in a blink of shock and pain as he was struck on the back. And I remember the way they gleamed in their eyes - those dogs I had dared to call friends - as they begged me to snap out of it.

"Jim! Get out of there! Are you thumping mad?" Samson was shouting above me. I could see his eyes leering down at me, flaming livid green from the light of the stars.

"Hurry up! Jim, come on!" Thomas chimed in desperately, his freckled face drained.

The platform gave an awful lurch and tilted downwards with the groan of scraping metal. My skin went ice cold in terror as I clung to the rail, praying I wouldn't die, please God I didn't want to die, not then, not there. So why, why was I standing there? Why did I hesitate? I was noise, nothing but noise, screaming at me from all sides. My head was screaming at me to move my feet, make a break for it, save myself, for the love of it all. My heart… I saw him fall. I knew if I ran away, just made it all disappear, as I knew I could - so easily - he would die in the cave-in. It had to be a ten-story drop to the bottom, at least. Not my problem… right? I mean, it's not like it was my fault he was there or something. But… if I stayed… I could drop, too. The platform shifted. I must have screamed again, but this time I was 8. I blinked away a lonely dock and sails on the horizon.

I wasn't going to be responsible for anyone else's loss because of me. Not again.

"I'm goin' back!" I yelled at them. Adrenaline set my blood on fire, pounding in my head.

"What? You're gonna get yourshelf killed!" Thomas hollered back, shifting forward to come down. Samson's thick hand shot out and caught Thomas by the collar of his shirt.

"Leave him! Let's get out of here!" The two took one last look at me and disappeared from sight.

"No! Guys! Come back!" It was no use. The betrayal stung my eyes. I was caught somewhere between fear and rage, and it almost left me there to die in shock. Almost. The crackle of wires splintering reminded me of what I had seconds before been so set on doing. I spun around and ran. I could still see him lying there face down on the catwalk, motionless. Reaching him, I realized I had no idea what to do. I just kneeled next to him as a million suggestions raced through my head. Check his pulse, that's what first came to me, check his pulse - but how? I couldn't remember that session from class - I was too panicked, it was too long ago. I could feel the seconds ticking away in my head. I looked back over my shoulder. The top of the cliff seemed so far away from where I sat. I bit my lip and tried to lift the man up; it didn't help he had to be almost twice my size. There was a rushing in my ears, and I swore any moment I might blink and that'd be it. Turning him over, my heart sunk to see the blood on his face where he had struck the metal. I dropped him in horror and almost ran again. Instead I grabbed the collar of his coat and tried dragging him, my boots sliding against the platform.

I might have gotten away with it if it wasn't for the second collapse. We were almost there; I could see the top of the cliff above me through the holes in the platforms. With a piercing screech one of the platforms collapsed not far from us, rocking the structure - and I guess that must have been it, because I ran. Dropped the coat, showed my heels, and ran. I didn't even want to know where I was going or what was happening around me. All I knew was the next minute I opened my eyes I was tearing up ground as I scrambled up over the land's edge, dirt caking in my fingernails and scraping away the skin. I stopped with my feet dangling behind me, panting. I looked up - and my head sunk onto my arms.

A constable glared down at me.