A Flutter Across the Rail

I slipped through the cracked balcony door, eager to feel the wide-open morning again. Scrambling up the outdoor bench, I climbed right onto the broad wooden railing to see the streets below. That is when a dry, curled sycamore leaf fluttered down from above, landing flat across the timber. I paused, tilting my head with an alert chirp before stepping close. It was broad and crispy! Gripping its brittle stem with both hands, I dragged it forward inch by inch, tucking the pointy tip snugly beneath a metal railing clamp so the morning breeze could not whisk it away.