Between Leather Towers

I slipped back over the threshold, leaving the park’s damp shadows behind as the house sank into night. In the corner by the door, a pair of tall, dark leather work boots stood like twin hollow towers upon the slate mat. With measured strides, I stepped into the shadowed crevice between them. Reaching upward, I hooked two talons over the stiff rim of the thick hide, feeling the waxy oil and cold brass eyelets beneath my grip. The deep leather cylinder curved around me, shielding the faint hall light and holding the chill of wet earth from the roads. In this narrow leather vault, I leaned back and let the silence settle.