Porch Plunge

The open doorway summoned me. I paddled over the wooden threshold on my flippers. Outside! Fresh air hit my gills. Three steep steps blocked my path. A sheer drop. Caution? Never. I leaned hard. Thrust forward! THUMP. My belly slapped the lower step. The plank groaned beneath me. Momentum carried me skidding across the damp grain, slamming straight into a mound of fallen autumn leaves. Yellow debris exploded everywhere! I clamped my jaws onto a stout twig, anchoring my slide right at the wood's lip. Solid halt. Not a single scratch. The front steps belong to me now.