Checking the Dipstick

I worked my way under the propped hood and found footing along the steel radiator support. The engine block sat cold and silent. In the shadowed gap near the manifold, the round yellow ring of the oil dipstick caught my eye. I braced my boots against a ribbed rubber hose, locked both hands through the loop, and drew it upward with steady leverage. The long, flexible steel blade slid free from its guide tube with a whisper of metal and a clean amber bead of oil clinging to the crosshatched tip. Level looks right in the middle.