Jetpack

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There were those who teased when Lela Jenkins swore she would never ride in another stinking crowded elevator again. Their laughter turned to jeers when she said she would create a jetpack to avoid long walks up steep stairs. For weeks she toiled, adjusting the fuel lines, calibrating thrust, aligning it to local and federal aviation law, and finding an outfit to match its brass and bronze design. At long last, she had perfected the pack and arrived to work one overcast September morning, ready to put her co-workers in their place and take to the skies in triumphant style. The pack worked spectacularly, and the jeers had turned to wild cheering. She cut loops and carved a clean spiral around the towering office building. The day should have been a smashing success, and if it were only a matter of science, it would have been. Her plan was flawless in its execution but for one tiny detail. There were no external doors on the twenty-third floor.

- Originally sent to M. Bennett of Plano, Texas