Kathleen Kaan

Five Flights

​I live on the fifth floor on fifth street. I climb it every day. Five flights to nowhere. I’ll grow up and run away. These haunting words of a 10-year-old girl set the scene for this tragic tale of domestic abuse and serve as a warning about the dangers of guns in the home. As the little girl ascends the stairs, she hears the voices of her parents as they engage in yet another verbal brawl that pierces the usually silent hallway.