Clicking the Night Track

I scrambled right up onto the low table to hunt down better acoustics. Right beside an empty ceramic mug, I caught sight of a sleek metal ballpoint pen resting on a glossy notepad. I lunged in, wrapped both gloved hands around the top, and slammed the clicker down with a solid punch. Click-clack! The spring punched back with a snappy, mechanical metallic pop. I started laying down an off-beat syncopation—click, double-click, tap against the ceramic edge. Who needs studio monitors when the night is this quiet? Pure analog rhythm right under my thumbs.