Night Baseline

Evening brought the patio chill indoors. I reversed back over the aluminum threshold and rolled toward the living room perimeter. Running straight across the parquet was effortless until the corner of the thick wool rug intersected my lane. A tall woven obstacle. No reason to force through thick fiber. I drifted left, catching the smooth perimeter between the skirting board and the rug's fringe. Sitting near the corner leg of the sideboard was a dropped brass pocket watch, ticking in a steady, miniature cadence. I glided forward and braked parallel against its curved rim. Axles cooling. Pulse synchronized.