The Missing Stairs

Sunlight streams in through the windshield of my car. Disoriented after a three-hour attempt at sleep, I try to readjust to my surroundings.

There, at the corner, is a coral rock sign and a fountain: Miracle Mile.

Fountain. The night's events start to come back to me. Juan. Salt Island. Officer Khost's rescue. I'm still clutching Bottle #3 tightly in my hands. For some reason, the song "Wow" by Snow Patrol is in my head.

Officer Khost is pacing down the sidewalk, smoking. Max stretches his feathers, perched on a nearby parking meter.

"Do you think Bottle #3's okay under the seat? I mean, I don't think anyone would want to steal my old Camry, or a bottle, but someone could, or it could overheat, if water from the Fountain of Youth can overheat, so maybe I should bring it with me..." I'm overtired and rambling. Khost stares at me.

"I think we're okay. Come on," he says, walking briskly ahead.

"Haw," says Max, flying alongside me. I give him a scathing look.

It's about eight a.m. by the time we arrive at the former wedding dress shop. The shop window has now been boarded up, so I quickly check the potted palm for the key. It's gone.

Khost looks around us at the empty sidewalk, then maneuvers something unseen in the lock. He steps back, shielding me behind him. In a second, there is a loud explosion and the door bursts open. Khost gestures me inside.

Now that the electricity has been off for days, the shop's musty smell is deathly. Covering my nose, I lead Khost to the service elevator. Creaking up to the second floor in such close quarters, I try not to make eye contact with my new boss. It's strange enough that he's seen me sleeping.

The second floor is now empty, boxes cleared away, posters of the Queen in a heap in the garbage bin. Most of the windows are boarded up, except for one, allowing a single ray of light to stream across the floor. The light seems to stop right at the spot of the spiral staircase. That is, where the staircase used to be.

"There was a staircase. Right here," I say, trying to reach the ceiling. "I don't understand...maybe they tore it down. But the trap door should still be here."

Khost reaches to touch the ceiling and knocks hard. "There's no trap door."

"But I'm telling you, that's how I found Grandma. She lives in a parlor above this office. I know, it sounds crazy..."

I search the floor, the entire corner of the room, running my hands across the paneling, but there is no sign of a staircase.

"This is a two-story building, Francie. So maybe it was all a dream? This was a bridal shop. If dreams weren't made here, where would they be?" Officer Khost looks out the open window, his gaze half-vacant. For a brief moment, his mind seems to be elsewhere, until Max flies over and lands on his shoulder.

"Good," Khost says, turning around. "Good. Now, so long as we're finished here, I'll show you how I take my coffee."