On the other side of the tiny door in the wall along the yellow staircase was another yellow staircase. This staircase was identical except that it was a mirror image of the one upon which I awoke. ‘Curiouser and curiouser,’ popped into my head, but I brushed the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ allusion out of my head and proceeded through the door.
To my surprise the small door snapped shut, leaving me just as confused as when I awoke on the other staircase. I considered going up, but the possibility of another blue woman, or a woman of any hue really, made me at least consider going down. Looking down, I could see no impediment, nor could I see an end. But to be fair, neither could I see anything in the upward direction.
I remembered once an anatomist friend of mine saying that going down stairs was harder on the knees than going up, so I climbed the new, mirror set of stairs. A guy my age has to take such things into consideration. I kept my eyes down but still had to stop at the sight of a pair of bare feet.