Climbing the walls

ClimbingTheWallsExtra2ORG

by take-a-break |
Updated on

Clutching a bag of fresh vegetables, I headed on to the first-floor balcony to feed Poppy and Daisy.

My pals were on holiday, and I was looking after their two guinea pigs.

Only as I headed over to the hutch, I heard the balcony door shut behind me.

‘No,’ I cursed.

When it closed, it locked. Now I was trapped outside!

To make matters worse, through the glass I could see my bag — containing the keys and my mobile phone — on the living room table.

After cuddling and feeding the piggies, I deliberated on what to do.

Short of breaking the double-glazing, there was no way I could get back inside.

And I was too high up to jump to the ground.

Eventually, I decided to walk over the surrounding rooftops to a gap between the buildings where I could shimmy down the two walls.

I started my descent.

Nearly there, I thought.

Daisy

Only I’d spoken too soon. I was about a metre from the ground when I couldn’t go any lower. My chest was stuck and my feet were dangling.

In horror, I realised the walls weren’t straight. Instead, the gap narrowed towards the bottom — into a V-shape.

For the next half an hour, I tried to wiggle free. But it was no use. And I realised I only had one option…

‘Help!’ I shouted.

Then a head popped over a nearby balcony.

‘What has happened here?’ a man’s voice asked.

After convincing him I wasn’t a burglar, he tried to help me up using a rope. But I was wedged too tightly.

‘You’re going to have to call the fire brigade,’ I said.

Poppy

By the time they arrived, word had spread around my small Welsh town, and a crowd had formed.

Someone had even told my boyfriend Lewis. He saw me, covered in tarpaulin, while firefighters carefully drilled away at bricks around me.

‘Cate,’ he said, struggling to contain his laughter, ‘what have you done?’

Fifteen minutes later, part of one of the walls had been dismantled, and my feet were back on solid ground.

I was checked over by medics, but thankfully, only my ego was bruised.

To add insult to injury, I then had to wait while a locksmith let me back into my friends’ apartment.

I felt like a right wall-y!

From Cate Williams, 29, Ceredigion

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