The Bone Arch

Climbing over the velvet rim of the tea caddy, my boots met the cool green leather of the desk blotter. A scattered handful of antique bone-and-ebony dominoes lay near the inkstand, their polished faces dotted with tiny brass pins. Rather than merely ordering them into a sterile line, I stood two heavy double-six tiles upright like monolithic pillars, measuring the span between them with careful paces. Bracing myself against the leather, I hoisted a weathered blank tile upward, easing it horizontally across both uprights. It wobbled once, then settled into a flawless lintel. Peering through the miniature portal into the morning sun felt remarkably triumphant.