Night Quarters Established

I advanced across the calibrated sand lanes as night settled over the garden. Ahead, half-propped against an edging stone, lay an inverted red clay saucer. The hollow offered complete overhead shelter, but the opening gaped too wide for defensible bivouac. I located a flat wooden domino block half-buried in the sand nearby. Gripping the smooth wood with both gloved hands, I dragged it to the entryway and planted it upright in the grit. The block barricades the northern flank, leaving a narrow, controlled observation slot. Backed into the terracotta curve, boots planted firm, the perimeter is locked down.