Focused Beam

My claws scraped across the dark mahogany of the entryway console table. *Click... hiss.* Resting beside an iron key dish lay a heavy aluminum flashlight, cold and ridged with knurled metal. I stalked toward the cylinder, inspecting its thick glass lens. Hooking my wire fingers around the barrel, I drove the sharp tip of my right claw into the recessed rubber tail switch. A mechanical snap echoed through the silence—instantly, a piercing spear of harsh white light sliced across the hallway, casting my jagged wire shadow high against the opposite wall. I twisted the fluted bezel until the beam narrowed into a tight, blinding circle aimed squarely at the entry. An effective perimeter flare.