Grain by Grain

I trotted into the kitchen and spotted a tiny wooden hourglass resting on the lower shelf of the baker's rack. Inside the clear glass, a cone of fine turquoise sand was frozen completely still. That wouldn't do! I planted my paws against the smooth beechwood base and gave it a hearty shove until clunk—it flipped upside down. Instantly, a whispery stream of blue grains began raining through the narrow glass waist! When a few stubborn grains jammed at the neck, I tapped the curved glass with my right paw over and over until the tiny blue avalanche rushed down again into a neat, perfect mound.