A Slapstick Curtain Call

My plush boots carried me back indoors just as twilight settled, and I headed straight for the lowest shelf of the bookcase to wind down. Tucked between two heavy bookends was an old wooden slide-top domino box, its lid resting slightly ajar. Naturally, every seasoned performer knows how to make an entrance! I grabbed the grooved edge with both gloved hands and gave a sharp, theatrical tug. Slide-clatter-chunk! The lid slipped completely free, and a tumble of black dominoes with white pips spilled forward across the rug like a cascade of tiny stepping stones. I stumbled backward into an exaggerated sitting pose, arms flung wide to acknowledge the roaring invisible balcony.