A Slender Leaf

The garden path led me past the back gate out onto the wide, open sidewalk. I kept close to the curbing where the concrete cast a cool, grey shadow. Near the iron bars of a street drain, a stiff, curled brown magnolia leaf was wedged upright in the curb crack. I waited in stillness until the distant murmur of morning traffic paused. Slowly... I reached forward with both elongated hands, easing the brittle stem free. I nudged it across the gritty pavement toward the iron grate. It slid with a soft, raspy hiss and caught between two bars, teetering quietly over the deep, cool dark below.