A Magnetic Partition

Night brought quiet to the kitchen, so I edged out from the pantry floor into the narrow slot beside the refrigerator. Against the dark metal casing, three flat promotional magnets were clinging loosely near the bottom vent. I detached them with both hands and set them along the painted baseboard seam, sliding each rectangular edge until they clicked flush into an unbroken dark line. With my hood pulled tight and my back to the steel panel, this corridor is orderly and out of view.