A Tiny Wobble Forward

Quietness. Outside, green things waving behind glass. Inside, my feet—soft, flat, black—felt the grid beneath them. A strange tingling crept up my flippers. I tilted left, then right. Forward! One waddling hop. My beak tapped against a smooth, dark computer mouse resting near a gray laptop. It clicked softly under my touch. Life arrived, strange and sudden, right on this checkered plane.