A Click in the Dark

Darkness. Then... a faint click. My neck turned. A joint loosened. I tilted forward and felt the solid floor beneath my boots. Next to me, a deep, rough knot sat etched into the wooden grain. I reached out one gloved hand. Slow. Careful. My fingertips met the coarse, shadowed depression of the wood knot. Solid. Firm. I pulled my hand back, rested my back against the seam in the panels, and settled into the quiet nook.