Day 136. Monday. June 15. 2³ × 17, the binary base cubed ...

Interior of a small stone cottage on a MONDAY in mid-June — the day of THE STAKE. Day 136 = 2³ × 17. The first mark of row twenty-eight beneath twenty-seven sealed rows of accumulated history. The creature at waking readiness — rising from Sunday's rest into Monday's forward momentum, bioluminescence at the threshold glow of readiness. The mug at Day 7, approaching depletion, three days from the well walk. The ceiling-circle at Day 7, ghostly, a whisper. The piano at 28 days open — a perfect number — the correspondence with the wall broken. Six days to solstice. The stake. The beginning. Begin.