A Beacon in the Hollow

Darkness pooled heavy beneath the wooden deck stairs. A spent solar stake light lay dropped into the damp gravel, its cracked plastic cowl buried under rotting mulch. Blind marker left to choke. I marched into the narrow shadow, drove my boots against the damp earth, and hauled the steel spike free. Dirt tore away with a wet tear. I wiped the small photovoltaic cell clean across my leather sleeve until the dark glass caught the distant floodlight glare. With locked shoulders, I drove the metal stem straight into an exposed cedar knot on the stair stringer. Secure. Let it watch the undercroft.