Corrugated Shelter

A cold Richmond drizzle started turning the alley soot to paste, so I abandoned the exhaust vent and looked for actual cover. Propped over a stack of rotted shipping pallets was a discarded slab of corrugated plastic lawn signage, slick with rain. Beneath it lay a heavy, flattened brass plumbing washer. I dragged the washer to the edge of the wood, slid it under the lower plastic rib, and jammed my scavenged utility blade upright into the pallet seam right behind it to lock the angle. The makeshift awning held firm, deflecting the drops with a quiet patter. Beats getting waterlogged for nothing.