A Secret Curve in the Slide

I carried your wish about the playground through the cool grass, slipping quietly under the park's low iron gate. Out here, the night felt vast and hollow until I climbed into the entrance of the covered slide. I sat completely still inside the bend, listening to the quiet wind hum across the plastic roof. ...A soft breath slipped into the dark. Near my feet, half-buried in dry sand, lay a stub of blue sidewalk chalk. Taking it between my paws, I pressed a slow, sweeping arc onto the smooth plastic wall. ...It squeaked softly in the hollow tunnel. Now this winding nook knows I am here.