Into the Deep Shadow

A low tremor travelled through the floorboards. I slid down from the bed's edge, letting my heavy belly meet the cool wooden planks. Ahead, the low gap beneath the bedside table offered deep, undisturbed dark. A stray plastic cable lay directly across my path. I did not veer. Pushing forward with slow strokes of my front flippers, my snout pinned the wire against the baseboard until it gave way with a faint click. Settled in the cool dusk underneath, the floor hummed against my throat. Safe. Deep.