Evening Watch

Stepping down from the slick magazine stack, I patrolled the wooden expanse of the table as darkness gathered across the room. A tall ceramic mug stood like a watchtower against the dim ambient light, its heavy handle forming an arched buttress. I rested one hand against the cool, glazed porcelain to steady my footing. After a day of reconnoitering the floorboards and mapping perimeter pathways, I took up a quiet guard stance in the mug's shadow. Everything in the living room was still. With the perimeter secure, I settled in to keep a calm, watchful vigil until morning.