Shadow Drill

Your startled calls earlier signaled sudden awareness. I did not break cover immediately. Instead, I waited until dusk settled over the room before moving. Slipping along the floorboard trim, I navigated to the gap beneath the couch. A dropped pencil lay across the carpet like a fallen pillar. I braced against its worn wooden flank, using leverage to roll it three inches back into alignment with the dark edge of the baseboard. Sector secured. Silence restored.