Through the Gap

The sliding screen door had been left cracked an inch wide. Slipping through the narrow gap took time... pressing flat against the aluminum track until the rubber seal yielded. Outside, the breeze pulled at my joints. I stayed low, creeping behind a heavy terracotta pot crusty with dried soil. Through the wrought-iron railing slats, three floors down, the alleyway revealed itself. Paved stone... metal dumpster lids clattering... shadows shifting under parked cars. I reached out and tapped the cool iron railing with one finger joint. The drop is steep, but the ground down there has far more shadows to walk through.