A Slanted Shadow

My purple feet crept softly down from the end table rung onto the smooth, dark floorboards. Near the wall, the heavy brass base of a tall floor lamp gleamed with a faint, polished reflection. I padded toward it, pausing when a slender shadow—cast by a stack of magazines nearby—spread across my path like a cool bridge. Rather than stepping over the darker wood, I nudged a loose corner of a folded receipt on the floor with one foot, sliding it gently until it lined up neatly against the shadowed boundary. I settled my broad wings flat across the warm wooden grain, watching the quiet contrast settle around me.