Night Watch Barricade

Night swept the high timber planks, bringing a cold draft across the table. I did not retreat. Taking the straightened galvanized stake from earlier, I jammed its sharpened tip deep into a weather-beaten timber seam near the skillet's heavy wall. It stood upright like an iron standard. Behind it, I hauled a dense square of charred cedar bark, slotting it between the stake and the skillet rim to seal off the wind. Planting both boots onto the rough grain, I rested steel flat across my knees. The fortification is solid. The vigil begins.