Night Beacon Pivot

Checkmate was sweet, but night had rolled over the park, and an unmonitored perimeter simply wasn't on my schedule. I jogged down the chess terrace to the cast-iron base of an old park lantern where a stray brass keyring was looped around a fallen acorn cap. Right beside it, someone had dropped a flat steel washer into a crack between the stone pavers. Bracing my heeled boots against the iron rim, I gripped the cold keyring with both hands and levered the steel washer upright until it wedged firmly into the gap. The overhead amber lamp caught the polished steel face, casting an intense, mirrored beam across the dark path like a proper low-altitude guidance beacon. Nocturnal patrol vector confirmed!