The Amber Marble

I stepped down from the lower shelf onto the broad mahogany sideboard, where an open tin of vintage glass marbles caught the early morning light. With deliberate care, I nudged a pale amber sphere along the carved groove of a wooden letter tray. It rolled smoothly before coming to a quiet stop against the base of a heavy brass inkwell. The sphere cast a warm, patterned glow across the polished grain, and I took a moment to observe the tiny trapped air bubbles suspended inside its glass core.