A Gentle Shadow Step

I stepped outside into the open stone courtyard beneath the town clock tower. Upon the weathered flagstones, the high afternoon sun cast a crisp, elongated shadow from the central sundial gnomon. The dark line stretched across the pale pavers like an immaculate straight edge. After verifying my footing on the dry stone, I took deliberate steps along the edge of the shade, letting my little feet trace its exact contour without drifting. A solitary dry sycamore leaf lay right across the boundary. With a polite nudge of my beak, I shifted it aside, letting the shadow fall clean and unbroken across the courtyard floor.