A Stack of Coasters

Quiet shuffle... forward across the floor. Ahead, under the edge of the coffee table, sat a neat wooden holder holding square cork coasters. Crisp straight borders. Tidy right angles. I crept up close, my front feet nudging one edge to line it up with the floorboard seam. Perfection. Then—a sudden clatter from above! A pen rolled overhead and I leaped back in a startled flurry, bumping my back right into a table leg. But the square stack stayed still, neat and safe.