When I first met Finch she was staring at the huge, towering wall with a painful intensity. The wall was protections, safety from the outside world. But every single day Finch talked about climbing the wall. About exploring the world around the city. She probably could have made it with the emergency bag she always had even though this was the safest place on earth.

   I remeber the day Finch climbed the wall. She definetly wasn't supposed to. She would have gotten into so much trouble if someone had seen. But no one did. She was up and back down so fast no one could have. I was so surprised when she came back down. I had been expecting her to just keep on going, over the side into the world around her. To just keep on until there was nothing out there she hadn't seen. And maybe come back one day and tell me what she'd seen.

   When I'd asked what she had seen on the other side of the wall she just winked and said "Climb up there and see." She had always meant to go back up there. But she had never gotten the chance. She'd gotten sick soon after. I'd watched her wither away. But she had never stopped smiling. Even when she couldn't lift her emergency bag off the ground. The day her father brought over the knife she had never let go of I knew she was gone.

   I sighed and pulled the knife out of my pocket. I rubbed it with my thumb for luck. I checked through my bag for the gear I needed. The crazy amount of items I had crammed into a tiny bag. Finch would be proud. I had never packed one until she was gone. I wouldn't have needed one in this city and I never planned on leaving. I took one last deep breath and grabbed the first handholds on the wall. I stretched my muscles and reached farther than I thought I could to the next handhold. Higher and higher. The wall was tall, taller than any building I'd ever seen, but there were plenty of easy handholds. I was glad becuase I had no idea what I was doing. Finally, aching and exuahsted I'd come to the top.

   Before I crawled up I looked for Finch's sign. A dot of green nail polish marked the wall. I tapped the spot with my finger quickly, before tugging myself up and sitting on the edge looking over my city. For some reason I couldn't look over the wall, I just wasn't READY yet. A small flapping sound caught my attention. I looked to the right and saw a small peice of paper in a plastic bag under a rock. I grabbed it and took out the note.

  Hey Traveler! (Red I'm guessing)

                Good Luck!

                           -Finch

   I guess Finch always expected I'd make it up the wall someday. I hadn't. The chance of of falling, of hating what I saw on the other side loomed over me with a sense of disaster. I still hadn't looked over the side. I'd been careful not to. So. Deep breath, stand up, and turn around.

   The desert I'd been told about my whole life disappeared like dust on the wind. The images of red sand and rocks, the small shrubs, the large snakes and lizards and gaint spiders we'd been told about melted into jungle. Large and sprawling seeming bigger and bigger. This must be what Finch had seen, why she hadn't told me anything. Saving it for a surprise. Maybe that was why she'd come back. Finch always wanted to be prepared. The jungle was not the desrt, and not what Finch knew. This was so different than what I knew, what I thought I knew. I wanted to go down, go home have a coke and wings. But that's what Finch had done. And she'd never came back up. I looked from the city to jungle, back and forth. I had a decision to make.

   I grabbed the rope and spike from my bag. I drove the spike into the wall and tied the rope to it before letting the rope drop to the ground. It unfurled like a banner before disappearing into the jungle canopy. Finch when I see you again I'll tell you all about this world, this jungle. Thanks for the knife and the good luck you left behind.