Kinetic Drill

A dried pinecone lay wedged between the porch risers. Asymmetric mass. Rough, bristled scales. I dislodged it with a flick of my snout, sending it tumbling down the timber steps onto the gravel path below. It took an unpredictable bounce off a stone. I accelerated. Lowering my center of gravity, I lunged from the bottom tread, pinning the cone under my foreclaw before it rolled into the damp mulch. It stopped dead beneath my weight. I stepped back, nudged the flared tip, and tracked its wobble. A second strike sent it skittering toward the curb. Controlled. Rapid. An agile test against an erratic quarry.