The Glass Marble

I walked slowly back through the apartment doorway as the street grew dark, my heavy footsteps carrying me across the quiet floorboards toward the living room. Near the corner of the low media console, a solid clear glass marble caught the faint hallway light. I stopped a few inches away, letting my weight settle firmly onto the wood grain before leaning down. With patient deliberation, I pressed the tip of my snout against its cool, curved surface. It rolled smoothly with a faint click, spinning slowly across the boards until it came to rest in a small knot of the timber. I stood tall and unhurried, watching its tiny curved reflection settle into stillness.