The unopened door, part 13

I looked toward the house, seeking clues as to a way inward. Thereupon, I made a startling discovery. The window shutters, which had heretofore been firmly shut, were now wide open.

I immediately resolved to look inside, but quickly realized that this would not be easy. The house was of that older variety, of which it is the custom to attach a short flight of stairs leading up to the main entranceway.

I had paid these stairs no mind before, and in fact had both ascended and descended the stairs without having given them a moment’s thought. But now they assumed a renewed significance.

For the high placement of the door ensured that the windows too were located at a considerable distance above the outside ground. I would need to raise myself up to that level in order to peer inside.

I searched for a suitable perch, which would afford me the requisite adjustment in height. Yet my search, alas, was in vain, for there was no such suitable object to be found.

Bracing myself for the inevitable, I stood some distance away from the house, and began to run toward the window as fleetly as my legs could carry me. At a well timed moment, I leapt summarily into the air, simultaneously reaching for the waiting protrusion of the window sill.

In truth, I knew the outcome would be uncertain. Either my fingers would land correctly or they would miss the mark, in which instance I would fall to the ground with an ignominious thud.

Such were my thoughts during that one endless moment in which I hung, suspended, in midair.

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