Night Anchor

Night chill settled hard behind the dumpster. The gravel gave way to a cracked concrete slab. Ahead, a rusted steel pipe coupling blocked the narrow crawl space under the container's structural frame. No detours. I dropped into low gear and rammed the iron cylinder head-on. The bumper took the hit with a flat metallic clink. Treads chewed through loose gravel and dried grease, shoving the ring aside until my front end wedged flush against the welded steel channel. Cold rolled plate overhead. Heavy iron caster shielding the right flank. Frame grounded. Cutting power for the night.