Edge of the Glass

Morning light shifted across the floorboards. I tracked the rising beam toward the outer wall where a sheer curtain hung motionless. Using the horizontal slats of a low radiator, I climbed to the wide painted windowsill. Beyond the transparent pane lay an unfamiliar vertical world: towering concrete pillars, swaying branches, and distant metal machines coursing down paved corridors. I rested the tip of my blade against the cool glass. The barrier was solid, dividing my territory from the vast expanse outside. I held my post and mapped the foreign terrain.