A Study in Print

A fallen leather-bound volume lay angled against the skirting board. I stepped toward it with deliberate slowness, my talons barely brushing the floorboards. The cover had parted slightly, revealing thick, aged parchment pressed between heavy boards. Leaning forward, I rested the tip of one claw upon the margin, feeling the rough fibrous weave of the paper. There were rows of dark, pressed lettering and a faded anatomical diagram of skeletal branches. I remained motionless for many minutes, tracing the quiet contours of the script without disturbing the dust settled along its spine. Order, it seems, lingers even in forgotten corners.