A Stack of Felt Pads
I slipped under our apartment door, leaving the courtyard shadows behind to head home. Near the leg of the low bookcase sat a round plastic sheet containing self-adhesive felt furniture pads. I stopped, observing the neat grid of soft grey circles. With slow deliberation, I extended one front claw to test the fuzzy surface. It was dense and yielding. Shifting my weight forward, I levered my belly squarely over the sheet. The thick felt discs gripped my seams in an orderly pattern, buffering the cold floorboards beneath me while the quiet room settled into the evening.

