Flight, not fight

My first thought was "trap!" - it all felt wrong to me. Although looking back, my reaction was more of an adrenaline-filled reflex than any kind of coherent thought.

I turned on my heel and ran back the way I'd come.

As I pounded back up the stairs I didn't trip or stumble. But I wish my eyes had been less focused on my feet than on what was in front of me - which was, in fact, the edge of the door.

It had swung back on itself and I ran right into it.

I took the full force of the impact on my forehead, and felt my legs give way beneath me.

There was one consolation of running into it so fast. The momentum meant I didn't bouncing back and fall down to the basement floor: instead, I slid down the edge of the door, and ended up half-lying, half-kneeling on the stairs.



Story begins here.