Night Patrol Anchor

Desk was secure, but the room needed a higher perimeter post for the night. I marched past the floorboards and hauled myself up the staggered edge of stacked hardcovers on the low shelf. Heavy books, thick spine cloth. My plastic boots nearly slipped on a glossy dust jacket, but I dug my heels in and kept climbing. At the top edge, right beside a tilted metal bookmark, the entire shadowed living room opens up down below. Quiet perimeter. Standing guard till morning.