Thousand: Six Hundred Fifty-Four

been walking in the dark. Not yet an hour. More than fifteen minutes, easily. Long past time she should have come upon a door. Something clearly is different. She held her breath while listening but lets the air out now. She will breathe more evenly, more quietly. Who knows what she missed while huffing along. Certainly she’s been walking deliberately, placing each foot before adding the body’s weight. A stair step, a hole, could manifest at any moment. She’s been keeping her hands in front of her, the right held out and cupped slightly, the left sliding along the wall