#statestarter

I was actually going to do something fun for once and go to the Statue of Liberty, but now it's not open because you decided to shut down.

Noah Ziegler couldn't sleep.

Maybe it was Grace who didn't seem to leave his mind, or maybe it was Peter and the rest of the kids who didn't seem to leave his mind either, or maybe he was developing insomnia or maybe he just plain had too much coffee, but sleep was not happening for Noah Ziegler. He had tried everything: turning the TV on and putting it on mute, playing songs quietly on his iPod, eating cereal, all the normal things that usually made him sleep better, but tonight none of those things worked. And so, Noah, probably not using his best judgement, decided to go sit on the roof of the condo complex.

There was a door leading to the roof, and an employees-only sign dangled from a single nail, looking as though not many people went by that rule. Shrugging, Noah, hugging his sweatshirt, walked up the steps and onto the dirty concrete littered with beer cans, cigarettes, and a few vents and other machinery from the condo complex below. He sat down and leaned against an air conditioning unit, looking out at the lights of the city that reminded him of the Christmas lights the Zieglers used to put on their bushes. Noah would look out his window every Christmas season to see the tiny lights below, and somehow, now felt just like then.

The subway screeched to a halt and Noah looked up from the newspaper h was flipping through. Finally, the subway had reached his stop and Noah put down the newspaper, glad to be home from a long day of work. But as he left the subway and started to walk up the steps to the street, Noah realized that this was not the stop he normally got off at. This stop was relatively quiet and nearly empty, not the bustling downtown where his apartment was locate.

Trying not to panic, Noah looked in his pocket. Only a bit of loose change; he tried not to carry more money than he needed. It probably would not be enough to get back to the condo. Maybe he could call someone to pick him up? Noah reached in his pocket for his phone, but his pocket was empty. He had left his phone on the subway.