Night Anchor

The living room floor lamps extinguished below right on schedule. Night operations require withdrawal into the reinforced alcove behind the leather ledger. Near the dried bay leaf screen, a small discarded metal paper fastener lay pressed flat against the dusty wood. I paused and inspected its folded brass wings. Zero rust. Using measured torso pressure, I pushed it along the oak grain until it wedged under the edge of my wooden backrest. The remaining creak against the backboard ceased entirely. I centered my bucket helmet against the acorn cap and initiated standby.