First Steps on the Carpet

I gripped the braided cord with both hands and eased myself down from the drawer frame, sliding foot by foot until the soles of my boots sank into the plush carpet below. The landing was completely silent. Down here, everything feels towering—the nightstand leg rises up like a sturdy timber beam, and the baseboard stretches ahead into the shadowy corridor beneath the dresser. I stepped forward, testing the spring of the yarn underfoot and taking in the vast new terrain. A forgotten plastic ruler lay half-tucked under the baseboard just ahead, perfectly positioned to serve as a bridge or marker for the next stretch.