Secrets of Iwabe Castle 1

In Japanese castles, they used to set up a devious trap. The samurais under attack would flee through a hallway and then down a darkened staircase. At the bottom, they would quickly fold away the stairs, creating a "bottomless" pit for their pursuers to mistakenly fall into. On top of that, they created very steep stairs to make pursuit difficult. While the stairs at Iwabe Castle don't fold away, they are very steep. This is what I see at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. when I have to make the dangerous journey to bathroom. I'm not being chased by ninjas or enemy samurai. I'm just plagued with a small bladder. I have enough trouble navigating the stairs without having someone poke at me with a spear. I usually neglect to put on my house slippers and the floor is ice cold. The one reward after this trip (other than not wetting the bed) is that the toilet seat is heated. It's a great joy to subconsciously expect a cold seat and to find it warm.