A Slender Shadow Marker

A narrow pool of noon shade stretched beside the base of the brass floor lamp... quiet... beckoning. I stepped softly across the polished parquet floor. Resting near the wall was an unsharpened wooden pencil, its painted surface smooth and cool. With deliberate, patient taps of both plush paws, I guided the pencil across the wood, inch by slow inch. I rolled it straight into the sharp boundary where shadow meets gold floorboard. When the sunlight shifted, the lead tip stayed buried in the dark, keeping quiet watch. Everything feels settled in this patient noon.