One autumn Saturday I couldn’t find anything to do.  My brother and my friends were all busy, and I was desperate.  I put on my jacket and walked over to Jefferson School.  Maybe there would be someone to play with. Alas, there was not a soul around.  I was about ready to head for home when I remembered something.

Tucked in a bay behind the school, where no one could see it, was a fire escape.  My friends and I had been planning to climb it for a long time, hoping to get on the roof of the school.  We were never able to because there was always someone hanging around. There was no one now!

To gain access to the fire escape, I had to ascend a tall chain link gate.  It was a little tricky because there were three strands of barbed wire on the top.  Carefully, I swung my leg over the barbed wire and climbed down. The fire escape was right in front of me. 

I looked around again to make sure I was still alone, then started up the black steel structure.   It switched back twice before reaching the top.  I took the last two steps slowly, treading cautiously onto the gravel rooftop.  

I could see the tops of nearby houses as well as the still deserted playground. Surveying the roof, I spotted something, a trap door.  It was a siren singing to me that would soon lead to trouble.  

For years I had wondered about the set of bent pipes affixed to the wall of every 2nd floor janitor’s closet.  They made a kind of ladder that ascended to the top of a very high ceiling.  Now, I knew their purpose.  They were used to access the roof, via trap doors.  

I could go through the trapdoor and climb down the pipe ladder into the janitor’s closet.  From there I had but to open the door to be loose in the school!  What an adventure that would be!  My friends would be overwhelmed with envy.  But do I dare? 

Knowing that this was a rare opportunity that might not come again, I decided to do it.

Taking hold of the trap door’s heavy lid, I bent my knees and pushed up with my legs.  The lid came up only a couple of inches before something stopped it.  By pulling up on only one side of the lid I could create a crack of space of about five inches between the roof and the bottom of the lid.  A cable was preventing the lid from being pulled off, but just maybe the gap was wide enough for me to squeeze through.  Once I got into the school I could leave by any door.  I wouldn’t have to squash myself back  out.  

I looked around again in case there was somebody on the roof watching.  There wasn’t.  I tilted the lid, rolled over onto my stomach, stuck my feet through the gap, then slid my legs through.  After getting my waist to the lip of the gap under the trap door, I was able to begin feeling for the pipe ladder with my feet.  My toes found a rung. 

 My upper body was more difficult to force through the opening , but inch by inch I progressed until all of my body was in and my hands and feet were securely on the pipe ladder. The whole process took about two minutes.

The janitor’s closet was completely dark except for a crack of light under the door.  I eased down the ladder slowly, rung by rung, until my feet touched the floor. I moved my hands over the wall seeking the light switch.  I found it, flicked it, there was light.  I looked around and saw the typical custodian’s closet complete with slop sink, brooms, buckets and other tools of the trade.  

I was eager to get out into the halls.  I grasped the doorknob, turned it and pushed.  The door wouldn’t open.  It must be stuck.  Using my shoulder I gave  a hard shove.  I could hear the click of metal on metal.  The door was locked.  Why did they have to lock the door to the janitor’s closet?  There would be no adventure to tell my friends this time.  

Now, I’d have to climb the ladder, squeeze out the trapdoor, walk down the fire escape and climb the fence.  Not only that, but if any kids were playing in sight of the fire escape, I’d have to stay up on the roof until they were gone. 

With heavy feet, I climbed up the pipes, pushed on one side of the lid to make a narrow opening and started the squeeze.  I got my head through and my shoulders, but that was it. No further progress was possible.  I didn’t panic at first because I had made it through the opening on the way down.  However, after failing several times to get past my shoulders, I started to get a sinking feeling.  

Then I thought of something.  All I had to do was untie or cut the tether, and I could easily push the whole lid off its resting place.  Unfortunately, the tether was made of braided steel.   Just to make sure nobody could overcome the cable, someone had taken pliers and wound the ends around and around the anchoring bolt. In desperation, I tried to untwist them with my fingers but achieved nothing for my trouble except sore fingertips.

Now the panic set in.  It looked like I was stuck in the closet til Monday morning when the school was opened.  I thought of my parents.  They would probably look all over the neighborhood, call my friends and eventually the police.  The chances of anyone finding me were nil.  

When Monday came, and I was discovered, the police would arrest me for breaking and entering and my parents would have to bail me out of jail. They would be too embarrassed to go to bridge club, causing me to be grounded forever.  Worst of all, my friends and schoolmates would point at me and laugh. My life would be ruined.

It had never occurred to me to break into a store, but now I wished I had.  Being arrested for sneaking in a closed store carried some cache with it - tough guy, juvenile delinquent.  Breaking into a janitor’s closet?  No status there.

I sat down on the floor of the closet to contemplate my fate.  I could get water from the sink, but there was no food.  Come Monday, I was going to be hungry, miserable, bored and embarrassed.  What started out to be a carefree adventure had turned into a disaster!

Why was it that I got through the crack coming down but couldn’t force my way through going up.  If I was just a shade skinnier.   What if I took my coat off and slid it through first?  Maybe that would make the difference. 

I scrambled back up the ladder and pushed my coat out, making sure I could reach it and haul it back in if need be.  I worked up my nerve before pushing my body into the slim opening with all my might --- two grunts and a groan and I got all the way through.  I was out!

Saying a quick prayer of thanks, I scanned the area around the fire escape - no one.  I ran down the black steel stairs and clambered over the fence.  Taking a deep breath I started my walk home, pledging silently to never let myself get into a fix like that again.

If only I had kept that pledge.