Ever spent a winter night outside because a locked door left you stranded? It nearly happened to me, but thanks to an orange, I found shelter.

When I was a college sophomore, our track team traveled to Washington State University, the school I transferred to after my two years of junior college, for an early season, indoor meet. A couple teammates had a friend who lived in a dorm, and we arranged to stay the night after the track meet.

In the photo below, I’m running the two-mile for Spokane Falls CC at the meet. I still remember my time – 9:46. The track program at SFCC has since merged with Spokane’s other junior college and today is called CCS (Community Colleges of Spokane).

After the track meet, the three of us went out for the evening. Our last stop was at a large dance club. I made a new friend and when it was time to leave, I got a ride with her friends and ended up at her place.

I had a fifteen minute walk across the quiet, desolate campus after saying good-by to her; however, the dorm door was locked. It was 3 AM and after hanging out at the entrance for a while, it appeared I’d have little hope of someone entering or leaving soon.

I searched for something to throw at the dorm room window, and the best I could do was an orange laying in the shrubs.

It took a strong throw to reach the window because it was five stories up. I had to stand close to the building, which meant even if I was on target, the orange would only tap the window lightly.

I threw the orange a bunch of times. It took a while to get some accuracy, and I had to catch it coming down so it wouldn’t smash on the ground. The third time I made contact on the window, a light went on and our host looked out. He came down and let me in.The orange above isn’t the one used, but it resembles it. It’s the same color, shape and even smells the same. Just for fun, I sometimes throw an orange into the air and catch it to celebrate my rescue from that cold, winter night.