The Measured Stream

A three-minute sandglass rested upon the polished marble island, its twin glass ampoules suspended within a turned brass cage. Approaching the cold stone pedestal, I halted to calculate the center of balance before disturbing the apparatus. Anchoring the rigid base of my robe against the veined slab, I gripped the brass knurled thumb screw with my free left hand while holding my amber flame piece steady. A deliberate, sustained upward leverage inverted the frame on its pivot. Fine white silica parted through the narrow throat in an unbroken, whisper-thin descent, accumulating into an exacting forty-five-degree cone beneath the morning beam.