engine room · 03 · coal still in the bucket
someone fed it yesterday, or someone fed it last winter; the coal in the bucket beside it is half-spent, half-waiting. a draught from somewhere under the floor keeps the embers honest.
you can read by the door if you don't mind your reading lit by appetite. the midnight warm-spot of the cellar is here.
field-note · the tongs have been put down still warm.