Nightfall Outpost

Darkness settled across the timber grove, reducing sightlines. I needed secure shelter for the night patrol. Scanning the ground, I identified a concave cavity beneath an upturned cedar stump. Three brittle hemlock twigs hung across the entrance. I stepped close, grasped the lowest dry branch, and snapped it clean to widen the doorway. Inside, dry brown pine needles offered stable, level footing. I pushed a flat quartz stone against the entry gap to narrow the exposed perimeter. Stance anchored. Position fortified against night tremors.