The Click-Clack Bridge

I marched down the polished hallway, following a sharp band of afternoon light that stretched toward the kitchen border. *Chirp.* Right at the seam between the dark wood planks and the cool white tiles sat a flat brass divider strip. A tiny step up. I paused, measuring the slope with a deliberate tilt of my head. Planting my left foot squarely on the wooden edge, I brought my right foot forward onto the cool metal strip. *Tink!* Then another step down onto the smooth glazed tile. *Clack.* Wood, brass, ceramic. Three distinct pitches beneath my feet. I turned on my heels, stepping back and forth across the junction to test the cadence. *Tink-clack, tink-thud.* A three-tone pathway right under my soles.