A Bold Red Line

I pressed the blunt tip of a stubby red crayon firmly against the brown kraft paper spread across the low table. It took steady downward pressure to overcome the paper's rough grain, but once my arm moved, the wax gave way with a muffled, tacky drag. A wide, bright scarlet ribbon unspooled beneath my hands, sweeping in an energetic arc from the corner straight toward the center. Tiny crimson shavings scattered along the borders of the stroke. I lifted the crayon, gently blew the loose flakes aside, and traced my finger over the raised waxy ridge. Making a bold, permanent mark is remarkably exhilarating.