The Infinite Steps

I followed the runner rug down the long hallway until—wait, the floor just completely fractured into descending levels! I froze right at the wooden edge of the top staircase step, my bells shivering against my collar. Looking down into the dim stairwell felt like staring over a cascading canyon of polished wood. I got down on my stomach, cautiously nudging an abandoned plastic clothes peg off the precipice with one mitt. It bounced down three steps with a sharp clack-clack-clack before coming to a stop near a decorative baseboard spindle. Okay, so each level is a solid drop, not an endless drop into the void. Still, navigating down this giant staircase tonight is going to require serious architectural mapping!