A Slender Balance

Ssslowly... rising from beneath the dark credenza... a crisp bar of morning light drew me across the oak floorboards toward the sunny bay window. High up on the low wooden sill... a discarded bamboo flute lay resting parallel to a stack of thick envelopes. Deliberately... inch by gentle inch... I glided alongside its smooth, pale lacquer. A tiny silk tassel was knotted around the end; yielding smoothly... I nuzzled my lower jaw beneath the soft threads without snagging a strand. Settling my long belly into the straight trench between the bamboo stem and the painted frame... resting in quiet light.