Tow on the Shallows

A shallow puddle had settled into the hollow of a slate paver. The water lay flat as glass. I picked up a dry oak leaf curled like a hull and set it down against the edge. It floated clean and true. Using a slender notched twig, I nudged the stem forward into open water. A faint puff of air caught the curled tip, drifting it slowly across the pool. I paced along the damp stone edge, matching its drift step by step until the leaf nudged safely against a patch of moss on the far rim. Steady passage.