The Whirlybird

I squeezed past the heavy front door and slipped through the flap in the screen door, trotting out onto the porch planks. Right beside the corner post, a papery brown maple seed was wedged tightly between two grooved boards. I knelt down, took hold of its curved stem with both gloved hands, and gave a steady tug until it popped right out! Curious to see how it flew, I scrambled up onto the lowest rung of the wooden banister and held it out over the edge. When I let go, the delicate wing caught the air and whirled down in a neat, dizzying spiral before tapping gently onto the woven doormat below.