The Rivet's Balance

A heavy steel leather punch lay idle across a strip of pebbled saddle leather on the workshop bench. Beside it, three polished brass rivets were rolling aimlessly along an open crevice in the worn maple wood. I stepped smoothly onto the bench without a sound, taking measure of the slope. Extending two fingers, I intercepted the stray hardware with calm precision, lining the gleaming studs into an exact, graduated row inside the bench's carved tool trough. A gentle nudge settled the punch right beside them at a crisp right angle. Even unfinished work deserves an impeccable sense of composure.