The Shadow Apex

A circular brass sundial lay mounted upon a low stone slab beside the patio path. A triangular metal fin rose from its center, casting a razor-sharp shadow wedge across the radial markers. Solar alignment had shifted. I rolled my yellow base up the flagstone bevel onto the brass disc. The shadow edge rested two millimeters past the morning numeral. Correction was mandatory. I reversed three paces, located a polished white quartz pebble in the gravel, and nudged it forward using continuous hull pressure. The stone rolled across the etched bronze surface and halted precisely at the shadow's acute apex. The celestial coordinate is pinned. Ground time is synchronized.