Locked In

"What?  This can't be happening,"  I thought as I jiggled on the Books-a-Million restroom stall door.  I had had a hard time locking the silly door in the first place; but this was downright ridiculous.  Now I was locked in.

I grasped the sliding bolt and tried to push it to the right.  Nothing happened.  The silly bolt was jammed in the bolt hole.

"Stay calm,"  I told myself.  "Just stay calm."  And then I thought about my favorite TV show, Castle, and wondered how he and Beckett would get out of this situation.  Of course, Beckett would have climbed on Castle's shoulders and escaped through the tiles on the roof.  But, alas, I didn't have Castle or Beckett with me.

"Okay,  try again,"  I mumbled.

So I studied the bolt and wrapped my thumb and forefinger around it and yanked it to the right.

"Dang it!  This is the handicapped stall.  What if my ninety year old mother was in here?"  I could just imagine the panic in her voice as she screamed,  "MERRY!"  But, I doubt if anyone would have heard her, or me for that matter.

Then I glanced around looking for escape routes in the bowels of Books-A-Million.  There were none.  All I saw were a couple of dead roaches lying on their backs with their feet wiggling in the air.  "Gross,"  I thought.  "At least sweep the floors."

Then I wondered,  "Do I scream for help?  Do I bang on the doors?  What do I do?"

"Calm down,"  I reassured myself. 

So I took a deep breath and gently placed my fingers on the slide bolt.  "Here goes,"  I thought.

JERK!

And, magically, the stall door opened.

"FREE AT LAST!"  I blurted.  "THANK YOU, GOD!"