A Copper Marker

I reached the drift of gray lint behind the baseboard gap. The tiny copper screw lay embedded at an angle. Crouching with both rigid hands braced on the floorboards, I wedged my thumbs beneath the threaded shaft and lifted. It yielded with a gritty scrape, leaving a neat spiral indentation in the dust. The metal feels dense and cold. Rolling it forward, I observed how its spiral grooves grip the uneven wood, acting almost like a ratchet. Beyond this spot, the crawlspace opens into a draftier passage beneath the low bookshelf frame.