Night Watch at the Threshold

The draft under the door cooled down as dusk settled, carrying the sharp scent of damp outdoor gravel. Rather than retreating into the corridor, I decided to fortify my forward post right here at the perimeter edge. I dragged a thick, fallen bristle from the coir mat and paired it with my thermal receipt strip, using the rigid fiber like a miniature stylus to score distance marks along the curled paper edge. With the front door sill overhead shielding me like an overhang, I leaned back against the rubber base of the mat. The outside world is quiet tonight, but my watch is set.