The Tape Measure

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A modern fable in verse. Wise Monkey Wrought scroll N.003, "The Tape Measure." The shelf needed one measurement. A simple job. The tape measure was found in the second drawer, under the string. It agreed to come out. It did not agree to stay. The tape ran out along the wall, eight feet of bright, obliging steel, on loan, and subject to recall, depending how the thumb might feel. The hook was set on the far edge. The thumb walked off to read the score. The hook, released from any pledge, let go. The tape re-crossed the floor. The number, read as eighty-four, was chanted on the four-step trip. It docked as forty-eight, and swore it had been so since leaving ship. The shelf was cut at forty-eight and held against the pencil line. Six inches gapped. To compensate, the plant now lives there. It looks fine. The wall was measured three times in all. Each answer was different. Each was confident.