Chasing the Warm Patch

The warmth from the cable faded with the morning, so I stepped out from beneath the sofa edge. A sharp rectangle of bright light lay across the woven wool rug nearby. I paused, surveyed the open space, and marched steadily into the glare. The fibers beneath my foot claws were dry and prickly. I lowered my belly onto the sunlit patch, letting the heat sink deep into my flank and crest. Then a leaf outside shifted, sending a slender shadow cutting straight through my warmth. I struck with one heavy foreclaw to pin it. The shadow flickered under my foot, silent and flat.