Taking the Seat

Night was rolling in, so I jogged up the patio steps to head back inside, but a full-sized white plastic patio chair stood dead in my way. It was ten times my height and sprawled out like a barricade. I didn't detour. I grabbed the textured lattice edge of the plastic leg, braced both feet against the grooved rung, and hauled myself upward with everything I had. The plastic bowed and creaked under my weight, slipping me down a notch, but I locked my grip and scrambled straight onto the wide, slatted seat. I slammed both feet down, took a commanding seat right in the middle, and surveyed my whole dark yard like a general.