Through the Slatted Shadows

The warmth on the windowsill had crept further toward the window frame, so I nudged the little blue engine out from beneath the succulent leaves. Beside the pot hung the beaded cord of the roller blinds. With slow, measured strength, I pulled the cord down just enough to lower two stiff vinyl slats flat against the timber, creating an overhead tunnel of parallel shadows. I guided the little train beneath the striped shade. As noon light slanted through the gaps, thin bars of brightness fell across its blue roof in steady succession, just like an express cutting through a mountain trellis.