Lord Frederick Leighton Acme and Septimus painting

Lord Frederick Leighton Acme and Septimus paintingJean Auguste Dominique Ingres Napoleon I on His Imperial Throne paintingJean Auguste Dominique Ingres Mme Moitessier painting
Then one day I couldn't stand being inside any more. Thirteen months I'd been inside, in those three little rooms, most ofihem just in the one room, thirteen months! Mama was out at work. I went downstairs. I walked the first ten steps down and then I lifted my wings. Even though the staircase was way too narrow, I could lift them some, and I stepped off and floated down the last six steps. Well, sort of. I hit pretty hard at the bottom, and my knees buckled, but I didn't really fall. It wasn't flying, but it wasn't quite falling.
I went outside. The air was wonderful. I felt like I hadn't had any air for a year. Actually, I felt like I'd never known . Even in that narrow little street, with the houses hanging over it, there was wind, there was the sky, not a ceiling. The sky overhead. The air. I started walking. I hadn't planned anything. I wanted to get out of the lanes and alleys, to somewhere open, a big plaza