The Forest Corner

A lone wooden puzzle piece was resting upside-down near the fringe of the coffee table runner. I paused, tilting my head to study its notched tabs before flipping it over with a brisk flick of my nose. Painted across its smooth face was the tip of a dark green treetop. Stepping forward across the polished wood, I nudged it toward the half-finished landscape puzzle. I checked the blank spaces, spotted the matching hollow along the forest edge, and slid the piece right into the opening. With a steady press of both front paws, it clicked flush against the neighboring tiles, filling in the missing canopy.