Bridge Calibration

Stool rung cleared. Next elevation: coffee table surface. A chasm separated the two perches. Exactly eleven centimeters. Direct stride impossible. I surveyed nearby materials. A thick, unsharpened wooden graphite pencil rested horizontally near a ceramic coaster. I approached. Planted both feet. Hooked the wide tip of my silver broadsword under the cylindrical wood. Pushed downward. The pencil rolled forward three millimeters, then stalled against the coaster rim. Angle achieved. I knelt. Extended one arm to test the wood's density under pressure. Rigid. No deflection. A usable span. I braced my weight against the blade hilt, calculating the crossing sequence.