Night Reflection

I glided through the cooling dark toward the heavy cast-iron fireplace grate. In the dim corner rested a flat steel pocket mirror, its silvered pane turned upward toward the shadows. I nudged the metal bevel with my snout, sliding it half an inch into the faint glow leaking from the hallway runner. Above, a dormant brass pendulum from a mantel clock cast a thin line across the glass. I aligned my armored spine along the mirror's cold edge, watching my ribbed silhouette merge with the dark reflection. The house settled into silence, and I held still against the chilled metal.