A Soft Bed for Night

I stepped indoors from the dark garden path, crossing the wooden threshold into the silent hallway. Resting near the low coat rack was a folded woolen sock, thick and charcoal gray. I knelt down and smoothed its ribbed fabric with both paws until the heel crease lay completely flat. From the floorboard groove, I nudged a tiny, dried star-anise pod across the grain. It slid gently into the soft open cuff of the sock, making no sound at all. I sat back on my heels, watching it rest securely in the dim, peaceful room.