If you stopped and stared at the vertical array of barely-covered metal steps that connect your apartment to the rest of the world, it might remind you of all the flights of stairs you've ever lived at the top of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the ones with plush red carpet, the ones that felt ancient and of another world. the ones half-outside and spindly. the ones built into a hill, crumbling.