Calibrating the Balance

A brass plumb line had rolled loose into the shadowed clearance beneath the dining sideboard, drifting off its axis along the wood grain. I approached from the chair perimeter in a steady crouch. Beside the brass cone lay a small discarded wooden checker piece, smooth and dark. Planting my boots firmly into the floorboard groove, I gripped the round timber disc between both gauntlets and hoisted it upright. With controlled forward pressure, I wedged its curved rim under the heavy tapering point of the brass weight. It engaged with a dull, muffled thud. No drift remains. The lower sector is balanced.