Grab Something

I can't get over how difficult a small detail is becoming.

The situation: A 40-something female, not particularly athletic, steps off the edge of a solid floor in the entryway of her condo, not realizing the adjoining floor is no longer present. (It's a long story--and I hope a good one!) She falls through and saves herself by grabbing the edge of the solid floor where she was standing a moment before. The entryway is approximately 4 or 5 feet wide and furnished with only a shallow table where mail tends to accumulate.

The problem: A woman who's not fit may not be able to pull herself up if she catches the edge with both hands. What might be present, probably affixed low on the wall or on the floor, that she might grab and use to help haul herself back up? The table is too light.

So far, all I've thought of is cords--telephone and TV cable--but those might easily pull out of the wall or even break, plus I'm not sure that cable installers leave enough length between attachment staples for her to be able to grab it at all.

Any ideas?

Maryn, taking care of the pence so the pounds take care of themselves

It'll take a few minutes to explain better. Let me frame it and I'll post more tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Maryn

Details, details

Let me see if I can elaborate in a way that's minimally comprehensible. (Change is good, right?)


My character is on the top floor of an upscale three-story condominium building loosely based on my mother-in-law’s condo. Each unit has an entryway that is visual only, not actually separated from the large living room by walls, railing, or anything but floor treatment. The entryway is tiled in marble and adjacent to the coat closet. (This, by the way, looks pretty but was a terrible idea on the builder’s part--marble is so slick under wet or snowy shoes!) The living room has a wood floor and area rugs. However, the wood floor is gone.


My character cannot see that the living room floor is gone and has no reason to think anything is amiss. She’s going to come in through the door, stand on the marble-floored entryway, then walk into the living room without thought or hesitation, exactly as if the wooden floor were there.


Since it’s not, she’s going to start to fall through to the next floor, except that she grabs the edge of the marble flooring. Now she needs something sturdy enough to grasp and hold onto as she hoists herself back up. She is a normal woman who can't do a chin-up or climb a rope. (Can you?)

She has to grab something present in the entryway--the living room's beams, framing, wiring, etc. are gone for the same reason the floor is gone.

That’s what I’m fishing for, what she can grab. I asked one of my beta readers, who proposed a door stop, the kind on a spring with a rubber cap (sproinnnngggg!--but probably nowhere near strong enough) or a large eyebolt which can be used in conjunction with a hook near the bottom of the door to keep it from closing during, say, a move. (The door closes with one of those pneumatic things.) A tough grab, since it would be right near the baseboard and most people don’t walk along the wall when the whole room is available. Initially he was all hot for the phone cord until he learned she couldn't lift her body weight with her arms.


Gee, maybe I should have had her work in a circus instead of an office!


Maryn

Sorry, three seven, I don't mean to withhold necessary information. It just sounds so much like the work of a loon, I hesitate.

The laws of physics are different for this character. Organic material is intangible--she can see wood floors, beams, framing, etc. but they are not there to the touch and do not support her. She does not yet know this.

She would fall the full three stories, to the poured-concrete basement, and thin layers of paint and any carpet she encountered would not be sufficient to break or slow her fall.

Side note: I've got a physics student going over my details, all the weight vs. mass stuff and lots more I never really learned. Questions come up every time I write!

Maryn

Ooh, some good ideas here. I, too, never liked the odds of flailing blindly behind one's own body and catching something, whether it's a TV cable or the edge of the marble floor. Even if she's positively feline and extraordinarily quick, won't her shoulders be dislocated? Uh, yeah... (Ow-ow-ow!)

I'd already thought about the nails, even started work in which she manages to rest some of her weight on a couple near one foot, but the detail of how they're used in installation is... chilling. Many, many more blind nail heads than I realized! She'd be sliced like wallpaper being soaked off.

Physics Guy brought up the carpet issue when I proposed she first start to think through the organic-inorganic problem by falling through something. He noted that an inorganic substance resting on an organic one would function normally. He suggested quality carpet, 100% wool with a jute backing, in the unit below hers, so she'd fall one more floor, then a highly forgiving landing. We figured if she really can't pull herself back up, she can fall a ways, then just come back up the stairs. Now, of course, I realize that she'd be injured by nails in the floor(s) she passes through. This will not work.

However, the ductwork and/or pipes to steam heat seems like a workable solution. She steps onto the floor that isn't there and drops only a few inches, that foot resting on a duct. Maybe she scratches an ankle, but nothing serious. Point made, the floor is intangible to her, but danger and uncharacteristic circus stunts avoided.

Thanks, everybody! This has helped me quite a bit.

Maryn, happily dreading the next problem that arises

There, there, three seven. You were right, but Physics Guy helped me craft the 'rules' last spring. We talked a lot about carpet and vinyl floors and cement and wood chips and car seats and rain...

But if you'd like to be consulted every time I have a dopey question--which is nearly every day, seems like--I'd be delighted to 'include you in'! C'mon, say you will...

Maryn