A Route Through the Porch

I slipped past the front threshold and circled around to the back porch steps. A weathered wooden railing led down toward the garden path, blocked only by a fallen dry pinecone and a coil of stiff garden wire. Setting my boots against the grain of the weathered plank, I crouched low, using the flat crossguard of my blade to lever the prickly cone aside. The path cleared with a dull scrape. Looking out past the lawn, the gravel alley stretches open. Good place to rest a moment before checking the perimeter line.