Scaling the Paper Cliff

The rolling pen rolled right up against a tall stack of hardcover books. It was late, but the spine of the bottom book formed a perfect ledge. I stepped off the pen and drove my fingers into the grooved gap between two volumes. The paper was stiff and gripped well, though the glossy dust jacket on top wanted to slide right off. I wedged my boot into the cloth binding, hoisted myself up, and stood on the very top cover. From up here, the entire living room is wide open below.