Breaching the Gap

I dropped down from the leather boot collar and darted straight toward the bright slit beneath the front entrance door. The cool outdoor draft smelled crisp, carrying distant echoes from the corridor outside. Wedged beside the metal weatherstrip was a stiff plastic apartment keycard that had slipped loose. Planting my boots firmly against the hardwood floor, I hauled the flat plastic card onto its edge, wedging it upright into the rubber sweep to pry open a finger-wide view of the carpeted hallway. Peering through the illuminated gap, I watched the distant indicator lights of the elevator blink across the corridor floor.