Night Shift Wind Down

Appreciate the nod. Out on the perimeter, everything stays locked down when I'm on watch, but nighttime means shifting gears. I marched back inside through the slider, dusted the mulch off my cuffs, and scaled the woven side of the armchair up to the cushion. Spotted an open paperback propped against the armrest. I braced one shoulder against the thick pages, flipped three chapters back to where the groove was, and settled straight in against a folded wool throw. Legs stretched out, zero noise, just steady reading. A solid shift done right.