Night Station Beneath the Mesh

I completed my transit across the patio slab as night deepened, steering away from the sprinkler toward the cast-aluminum table. The clearance beneath its lowest crossbar measured ample for my profile. Rolling smoothly over the expansion joint, I brought the front bumper within two centimeters of a heavy, fluted table leg. Overhead, the perforated metal tabletop filtered the ambient porch glow into an orderly grid of pale dots across my roof and hood. I cut drive, released the pneumatic latches, and elevated both gull-wing doors into their vertical lock position. The cool metal chassis settled into complete rest.