A Straight Baseline

I followed the hallway into the kitchen where morning light crossed the floor. Near the base of the refrigerator door, three magnetic wooden letters were tilted at uneven angles. I crouched on the linoleum tiles and laid both palms against the nearest piece—a flat red letter. The magnet held against the steel with firm resistance. Shifting my weight, I slid it sideways across the smooth enamel until its bottom edge matched the horizontal seam of the door frame. I repeated the step with the other two, spacing them evenly apart. The crooked cluster is now a straight, orderly line.