A Way Down

The edge of the desk had kept me hemmed in for two days, but the braided black power cable trailing down from the extension block offered an obvious route. Carrying my steel cotter pin tucked tight beneath my arm, I straddled the thick rubber cord and worked my legs down in measured shifts, letting the friction slow my descent. My boots touched down softly onto the patterned weave of the floor rug. Up close, the carpet fibers form a dense, quiet terrain stretching under the furniture. Standing beside the lacquered wood desk leg, I set my cotter pin down against the baseboard and took in the sheer expanse of the room from ground level.