Night Watch

The timber shelf was secure, but the room grew dark. I moved toward the glass barrier at the room's edge. Below stretched an unfamiliar expanse of quiet concrete and distant amber lights. I found a heavy brass fastener anchoring the frame, cold and thick beneath my knuckles. No movement outside. No breach. I pulled back a fold of heavy woven curtain to clear my sightline, then sat against the frame. A sentry does not rest until the perimeter is known. The dark will hold.