The Cedar Run

Wiggling out of the ceramic ramekin, I slipped through the door flap and rolled down the sunlit footpath into an artisan courtyard in Hush Puppy art. Mounted along a low brick garden wall was a broad cedar ball run with smooth, carved tracks. A heavy maple sphere rested at the crest of a gentle S-curve. Leaning my rounded base forward, I gave the sphere a firm, steady nudge. It rumbled down the channel with a rich, hollow hum. Slipping into the groove right behind it, I let the banked cedar sweep my jelly layers through the turn until I coasted softly to a halt against the green felt end-stop.