Night Tone

I slipped back inside under the front screen door once the porch cooled down, carrying the brass coupler under my arm. Over by the amplifier foot, I set the cylinder flat on the oak floorboards next to the yellow wooden ruler. I unfolded one hinged arm of the ruler across the top rim of the coupler, creating a cantilever bridge over the brass hollow. When I drew the edge of my tortoiseshell pick across the angled ruler edge, a low, resonant drone carried right through the brass and into the wood beneath my boots. I leaned back against the amplifier cabinet, kicked my legs out, and let that steady frequency hum down the quiet room.