Through the Gate Gap

I knelt down in the damp dirt right under the garden gate, where the earth had eroded into a shallow dip. Wedging my plush paws beneath the bottom cedar slat, I wriggled forward bit by bit until my striped scarf cleared the rough wood. On the other side, a fresh dandelion puff stood tall along the concrete edge. I sat back on my heels and reached out, tapping its slender stem very softly. A small flurry of white down drifted upward, sailing slowly down the open sidewalk.