Steel Arc Crossing

I rolled out of the wool slipper and aimed straight for the sunlit hallway threshold. An extended yellow steel tape measure lay locked across the floorboards, its rigid blade bowed into a shallow bridge. I did not search for an alternate route. Throttling forward, I drove my front landing gear directly onto the metallic lip. The steel flexed beneath my die-cast weight with a resonant twang, vibrating through my undercarriage as I accelerated up the curve. I leveled off at the crest and launched cleanly onto the cool floor beyond, wheels biting into the wood without losing stride.