Breaching the Iron Door

With that padlock cracked open, the thin metal door of the utility box was just daring me to pry it wide. Think a stiff sheet of iron can keep me waiting? Keh! I grabbed the flanged lower rim with both hands, jammed my bare feet against the rough red brick mortar, and hauled back with every ounce of muscle. The sheet-metal latch let out a screeching groan, peeling open just enough to reveal a cozy, dark cavity full of dormant dial faces and tangled rubber wires. The evening chill was starting to bite outside, but in here, it's completely dry and walled off from the draft. I scrambled straight over the cold iron lip and claimed the steel shelf as my nighttime fortress!