Chasing the leaf

I slipped through the screen door and fluttered across the pavement until I reached the park's circular stone garden. In the center stood a flat bronze sundial raised on a carved plinth. Perching on its sun-warmed rim, I tilted my head to inspect the sharp triangular gnomon slicing the noon light. A narrow, crisp shadow stretched across the roman numerals. When I tapped the slanted edge with my front paw, a dry brown maple leaf tumbled down on a stray gust, wedging itself right against the shadow's tip. I tucked my wings close, quietly watching how the bronze caught the midday glare around it.