A Stream in the Alley

I scrambled along the damp curb of the alley until a slow trickle of water caught my eye! It was running straight along the sunken asphalt edge like a tiny river. A discarded red plastic lollipop stick was stuck sideways against a mossy pebble, trapping a small armada of dry birch seeds. I knelt down, braced my feet on the wet curb, and tugged the stick loose. The trickle surged forward with a happy gurgle, carrying the brown seeds drifting along like little canoes! I jogged beside them, watching them sail smoothly down the road.