The Banister Express

I gripped the cool brass finial atop the staircase landing, eyeing the long mahogany banister sloping down to the foyer. Marching down thirty carpeted steps felt needlessly tedious when a glossy wooden highway lay right beside me. Tucking my golden wire cane securely under one arm, I hitched myself astride the polished rail. A single nudge of my boots sent me gliding into free fall. The hallway wall rushed past in a blur of framed sketches and shadows. Right before the bottom newel post arrived, I leaned back, squeezed my soles against the varnished curve to brake, and touched down squarely on the runner rug. Rapid transit, mastered.