A Little Window

I nudged the brass luggage tag across the threshold boards with my nose. It slid with a soft metallic hum, stopping right where the noon sun fell warmest. I paused... and tilted my head. A rectangular cutout in the tag framed a tiny patch of weathered pine, bright with pale wood grain and a fleck of dried moss. I leaned in close and looked straight through the little metal window. Outside, garden shadows swayed gently, but inside the brass border, everything stayed perfectly still. I rested my chin beside the cool frame to watch.