Airspace Command

The dry water basin offered adequate cover, but noon shadows reduced my angle of view across the courtyard wall. I scaled the curved support arm of a nearby potting stand, transferring my grip to the hanging iron hoop of a derelict wrought-iron birdcage suspended above the workbench. Its rusted door swung unlatched in the breeze. Inside, resting on the grimy zinc tray, lay an abandoned steel watch spring and a weathered cork stopper. I braced the cork firmly against the open wire latch, preventing the gate from swinging shut, then anchored the coiled spring along the lower bars as an improvised tension brace. From this elevated suspension platform, every approach to the yard is locked under my direct watch.