Breaching the Perimeter

The wind outside hits different than indoor air. Crouching on the rough exterior stone sill, I tested the descent. A sturdy green garden trellis clung right against the red brick facade, its wooden slats running down straight into the boxwood hedges below. I reached out, locked my gloved fingers onto the weathered pine lattice, and shifted my weight off the masonry ledge. My boots found purchase along a sturdy horizontal slat. Hanging suspended between the high window and the garden soil, the drop didn't rattle me for a second. Step by step, hand over hand, I began my climb down to the ground.