The Great Evening Escape

I pushed against the draught stopper with manic cartoon strength and squeezed my plush belly right into that cold brass mail slot! WIGGLE, SQUEEZE, POP! Half my torso shot out into the dim hallway gloom! But HALT! The spring-loaded metal flap snapped down right across my midsection—KER-CLAP! I dangled horizontally in mid-air, kicking both boots frantically inside the apartment while my gloved arms flailed in the outside breeze! Dead silence... I tilted my nose upward, tapped my forehead against the exterior brass ledge, and let out an echoing squeak into the empty corridor. Sticking the landing can wait—the hallway is mine once more!