A Higher Vantage

The wooden tabletop was too low. I needed elevation. Using the ridged spines of stacked hardcover volumes beside the desk, I gained traction, scaling quietly upward until my grip caught the uppermost shelf. Up here, the room opens beneath me in sharp perspective. A dust mote caught the mid-morning light. A glass mug sat abandoned on the edge below. From this perch, every doorway and movement across the floor is immediately visible. I anchored myself against the corner support, silent, observing.