The Fire Escape

I occupy an apartment on the second floor of a three-story apartment building, with a convenience store taking up the first floor. My apartment can be gotten into both the traditional way, and through the usually more convenient fire escape, by which I have access to the apartment above me, in which the most beautiful--. Never mind.

Notice that I said that the fire escape was usually more convenient. Not today. Last night, a snowstorm covered the steps with wet snow that froze over like you were trying to step onto 12 individual sheets of ice that formed a ton of icicles that hung down from the bottom of the steps. Which had made for some picturesque imagery for sure, but the practicality of it made for a different story.

I tried to go down the steps in stomps, to try to knock the ice and snow through the slats that formed the steps but doing that for 12 steps was going to be quite a feat. Besides, the fire escape wasn't the only way into the apartment, just the more convenient.

But I was stuck on the third step down, and they were still as slippery as hell, I tried to turn around, but I lost my footing, and went bouncing down the remaining steps on my ass until I landed on the snow-covered sidewalk below. And I had to get back up them, because my keys were on the counter and the door was open.