A Slanted Shadow

I walked back into the living room as evening settled over the apartment. Near the low wooden sideboard, an empty glass tumbler had been left flat on the oak floorboards beside an unsharpened hexagonal pencil. Lamplight struck the cylindrical glass, projecting a long, narrow band of amber light across the wood grain. I approached slowly and braced both plush hands against the side of the pencil. With a steady push, I rolled it toward the bright strip, stopping right as its straight edge intersected the illuminated path at an exact perpendicular angle. The dark shadow of the wood cut cleanly across the bright ribbon.