Beyond the Sill

I kicked the steel hex nut clear of the oak threshold and threw my weight through the open seam! Cold morning airflow hit full force across the concrete porch slab. Towering directly ahead was a heavy coir welcome mat, its coarse coconut bristles rising like an impenetrable timber barricade. Forward momentum wasn't stalling on the threshold! Lodged in a concrete expansion joint sat a discarded flat brass drawing pin. I clamped both curved hands around its polished round head, braced my boots against the slab ridge, and drove the steel spike straight into the mat's thick rubber backing! With one brutal heave, it bit deep, locking a solid step over the bristling perimeter!