A Suspended Cadence

Why should a mantelpiece merely hold dust when it can orchestrate a procession? Slipping out from the hallway shadows, I ascended to the wooden mantel where an unspooled spool of emerald ribbon lay forgotten beside an antique wind-up alarm clock. A heavy brass key stuck out from the clock’s rear winding arbor, perfectly rigid. With measured patience, I knotted the silken ribbon around a spare mother-of-pearl coat button, threading the other end through the key's ornate loop. Leaning my weight against the clock's brass bell to test the counterbalance, the button swung into a gentle, hovering descent, spinning like an acrobat before settling against the varnished wood. A morning tableau should always possess suspense, don't you think?