7
“It’s hidden; no one will notice,” the apprentice said. The master smiled and reached for the nail.
The apprentice tucked a bent nail where the baseboard would hide it and reached for another. The master paused, pulled the nail out, straightened it over the anvil with a few practiced taps, and drove it back true. “How does a house learn to stand?” he asked, not expecting an answer. Years later the apprentice was known for floors that didn’t creak and stair rails that fit the palm like a handshake. Clients said his houses felt honest though they couldn’t point to a single feature. He knew why: integrity gathers in places no one sees and then shows itself in how everything holds together.
