Magnetic Anchor

I slipped beneath the door threshold into the dark quiet of the house, my limbs stiff from the descent down the zinc pipe. *Hum.* Near the baseboard rose the heavy cast-iron pillar of the coat rack. I tilted my head, pausing in cautious stillness to calculate the hold. Ground drafts crept along the timber floorboards, but the solid iron column stood cold and immovable. Raising my arm, I let the black disc on my wrist snap flush against the dark metal. *Clack.* The bond seated with iron certainty. I drew my knees up to my chest plate, suspended clear of the drafty floor. Motion ceased. I dimmed my ocular lens to a faint ember, locked firmly for the night.