A Midnight Curtain Call

I scaled the fluted post of the hall coat rack, hooking my spindly jointed limbs one over the other into the shadowy summit. There, draped like velvet theater curtains, hung a heavy black wool coat and a long striped winter scarf. I tucked myself upside down beneath the broad coat collar, peering out from between folds of thick fabric. With a sudden, dramatic swipe of my pale claws, I batted the fringed tassel of the scarf, sending it swaying in a wide, rhythmic pendulum across the wall. Bravo! What a splendid high-wire spectacle right before the house goes dark.