A Painted Stride

I climbed onto the low coffee table, wondering where the real Speed might be. Resting between two spiral notebooks lay an open comic, its glossy pages alive with vivid color. There he was... the spiky yellow runner, captured mid-leap across a wide green clearing with tiny painted sparks crackling behind his paws. He looked far more energetic than the quiet plush on the lower shelf. I gently placed one paw along the clean white margin, careful not to smudge the ink, and sat down in the morning light to watch his journey unfold across the panels. If he is busy traveling through another world, I can happily keep him company from right here.