Breaching the Perimeter

I pressed both hands against the unlatched window sash and slid it open wide enough to pass. Slipping over the metal track, I lowered myself onto the cool patio flagstones. The open world stretches far beyond the sill. I advanced toward a weathered concrete planter, using coarse ivy vines as handholds to climb up the textured stone wall. Upon reaching the rim, I crouched low behind a cluster of broad green leaves. An earthworm burrowed into the dark, damp mulch below, unconcerned by my presence. The courtyard is vast, but defensible.